House prices in the Republic increased by more than six times the EU average in the first three months of this year, according to new figures.

The rate of increase across the State was put at 16.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the latest Eurostat House Price Index indicates.

The increase was recorded in spite of a drop of 0.9 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015.

The average house price increase across the EU in the same period was 2.5 per cent, according to the European Union’s official statistics body.

The next highest year-on-year increases were recorded in Sweden, which saw house prices jump 11.6 per cent, Hungary, with an increase of 9.7 per cent and the United Kingdom, where prices rose by 8.5 per cent.

Not all EU countries recorded increases, with prices falling 5.8 per cent in Latvia and 3.3 per cent in Italy. France reported a decline of 1.6 per cent, marginally higher than Slovenia, where prices dipped 1.4 per cent.

Prices as measured by the House Price Index (HPI) rose by 0.9 per cent in the euro zone and by 2.5 per cent in the wider EU in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

The highest quarterly increases – that is from the last quarter of 2014 to the first quarter of 2015 – were recorded in Romania, Sweden, Hungary and Denmark, while the most significant falls were reported in Belgium, Cyprus and Croatia.

Meanwhile, the number of residential mortgage accounts in arrears declined by 1,160 in the month of May, according to new figures from the Department of Finance.

The number of mortgages in arrears stood at 81,111 in May, a 31 per cent decrease on the September 2013 figure of 118,438.

The number of private-dwelling accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days decreased by 1,490 accounts to 55,618.

Mortgage accounts in arrears of greater than 720 days stood at 28,889 at end May 2015 and account for approximately 36 per cent of all accounts in arrears.

The department of finance data shows restructured accounts have increased by almost 26 per cent since May last year. The total number of mortgage accounts classified as restructured stood at 109,542 in May 2015.