DUBLIN: Residential property prices in Ireland posted their first contraction for 10 months in January, falling 1.4 percent, but were still 15 percent higher than a year ago, data showed on Wednesday.

While prices across Ireland are 38 percent below their 2007 peak, the central bank last month introduced restrictions on mortgage lending to try to ensure price rises do not return to unsustainable levels.

Property prices fell 1.9 percent in Dublin in January and were up 21.6 percent from a year earlier.

Copyright Reuters, 2015