Property sales up in Galway by almost 30 per cent

This compares to a national average of 6 percent.

According to the Residential Property Price Register, 535 properties were sold in Galway between January and June, compared to 418 for the same period last year.

This represents an increase of 28 percent for the property market in Galway.

However, the average price of property sold in Galway has dropped from 145 thousand during the first 6 months of 2012, to 130 thousand for the first 6 months of this year.

Meanwhile, Dublin and Wicklow are the only locations in the country where average property prices increased so far this year.

Both places saw prices rise by 3 percent, although property sales in Dublin remained the same between January and June as the same period in 2012.