Business

Home prices still climbing as housing shortage continues

Sherry FitzGerald data shows prices rose 5.5 per cent over past 12 months

The housing crisis shows little sign of abating as prices keep rising amid a shortage of properties. The volume of sales fell 10 per cent in the first three months of 2024 compared to a year ago. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Peter Flanagan
Thu Jun 27 2024 - 06:00

House prices have risen 5.5 per cent over the last year, Sherry FitzGerald said, in the latest sign the squeeze in the property markets shows no sign of easing.

The increase is well above the 3.4 per cent rise in the previous 12 months, the estate agent said in a statement. Price growth has more than doubled to 5 per cent while outside the capital the growth rate is at 6 per cent, up from 4.6 per cent a year ago.

[ Irish house prices now 10% above their boom-time peak ]

“The latest figures demonstrate a notable increase in the value of second-hand homes across Ireland, with strong growth in both urban and rural areas,” Sherry FitzGerald managing director Marian Finnegan said. “The market faces significant challenges, particularly with the decline in transaction activity as a result of persistent supply shortages.”

[ Ministers defend affordable-housing efforts as homes in one scheme to cost up to €475,000 ]

In a sign that the shortage of homes for sale may be worsening, Sherry FitzGerald said the volume of sales fell 10 per cent in the first three months of 2024 compared to a year ago. There were 27 per cent fewer second-hand homes for sale in January this year than 12 months earlier, it added.

READ MORE

The research also points to worsening issues in the rental market. More than one-third of sellers in the first half of the year were investors offloading their properties, suggesting fewer homes will be available for rent.

Peter Flanagan

Peter Flanagan

Peter Flanagan is an Assistant Business Editor at The Irish Times

LATEST STORIES