A new survey shows evidence of a three-tier property market in existence in Ireland. Research carried out by Real Estate Alliance reveals a shortage in supply of starter homes in the commuter belt and large urban areas.

It also shows price increases for houses in the commuter counties around Dublin have outstripped those in the capital for the first six months of the year.

In Dublin city, the average three-bed semi is now costing €348,333 - an increase of 11.76% on figures from December.

However in commuter counties and smaller cities like Cork and Galway, three-bedroom semi-detached houses have increased by over 15% to an average price of €182,353 in the first six months of the year.

The price of an average three-bed semi in Irish towns and cities has risen by 11.12% to €170,074 since the end of December.

The survey also reported a 20% increase in mortgage-financed sales, and a 32% reduction in selling time for properties since the start of the year.

The average property is now taking just nine weeks to sell nationwide on average. That is nearly 32% quicker than six months ago, while in Dublin the time taken to sell has halved from eight weeks at the turn of the year to just four now.

The group says there is hard evidence that banks are financing house buyers to a greater extent - with the amount of cash transactions dropping from an average of 66% in December 2013 to 53% in June of this year.

Philip Farrell is the CEO of the Real Estate Alliance.