Outside of Dublin, the Residential Property Price Index increased by 4.5% while prices there decreased by 0.2%.

May was the weakest annual growth of the year so far, progressively declining from the 6.2% growth seen in January's data.

4,435 household purchases of homes at market rates were reported in May, an increase of 18.9% over the same month in 2016.

In the previous 12 months, the median price paid nationally for a residential home was €315,000.

Longford had the lowest median price in the State at €160,000, while Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown continued to have the highest median price of any location in the nation at €630,000.

Price increases for comparable homes in the mid-east (up 5.6%), the Midlands (up 5.1%), and the west of the country (up 5.7%) all witnessed significant increases throughout the time period.

Three more price categories in the Irish capital, including homes in Dublin city (down 2.8%), houses in Dun Laoighaire-Rathdown (down 1.6%), and houses in Dublin overall (down 0.4%), all saw price declines.