During the first quarter of 2019, the Property Price Index (PPI) increased by 6.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the NSO said today.

Provisional figures indicate that the main driver of the increase was the Apartments price index, although the Maisonettes price index also went up.

In the first quarter of 2018, the PPI registered a rise of 5.3 per cent when compared to the same quarter of the preceding year.

The PPI shows the price changes of residential properties purchased by households. It is compiled on a quarterly basis rather than on a monthly basis, to ensure that all figures are substantiated by larger samples.

The PPI covers apartments, maisonettes and terraced houses only. The price for the properties being included are deemed to be indicative of developments in the property market in general