Estate agent DNG has welcomed the new Residential Property Price Register, which went live on Sunday.
However, managing director Keith Lowe said the new register should not be confused with a house price gauge.
"The register does not include property details such as whether the property is a house or an apartment, the size of the property, the site size or the accommodation type.
"Also, as the register is compiled at the end of the transaction similar to the CSO House Price Index there will be a long time lag between the date when the transaction is agreed and the home purchase completion.
"We would estimate that this time lag is between 3-6 months. This is how long it takes an average sale to complete from taking a booking deposit to handing over the keys on completion of the sale when a mortgage is involved (cash transations will not have this delay). With this in mind, the register will not act as price guage nor is it intended to do so."
He also added: "Whilst the register will provide transparency in terms of actual sale prices of properties it will be particularly helpful in providing data on the number of transactions happening at any given time and by locality which will be an indication of the state and health of the property market."
