House prices rose 3 per cent to an average of almost €345,000 nationally in the third quarter as the country’s shortage of stock continued to bite, according to property website Daft.ie.
According to property website Daft, house price inflation between June and September was the fastest of any three months since 2017.
Nationally, the cost of buying a home rose 3.1 per cent to an average of €344,848, with the report showing that prices were 6.2 per cent higher than during the same period last year.
House values are also 37 per cent higher than they were at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Buyers in Limerick faced the sharpest shock, with house prices accelerating by 9.7 per cent to an average of €292,437 in the city over the past three months, Daft’s figures show.
Dublin prices rose 6.2 per cent to a €463,265 average, meaning property inflation in the capital steamed in advance of most other key population centres.
Galway city prices rose 4.1 per cent to €388,604, Cork properties climbed 3.8 per cent to €354,307 and Waterford homes added 3.4 per cent to sell at an average of €249,792.
House price inflation in the rest of the State (excluding Dublin) hit 6.3 per cent, giving the average home a price tag of €294,541.
Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons, the report’s author, blamed “a lack of homes of all kinds” for the sharp rises in the cost of houses. “And this should remain the focus for policymakers before and after the next election,” he added.
Daft’s figures show the number of second-hand homes going up for sale continues to decline.
On September 1st, there were 11,900 second-hand properties for sale, 12 per cent fewer than a year earlier, and a record low, according to the report.
Has Irish house price inflation finally peaked?
The previous low was 12,900 in September 2021, shortly after State-imposed Covid lockdowns ended. This hit overall supply, as just 51,000 homes were offered for sale in the 12 months to September, against 57,000 over the previous 12 months.
Mr Lyons noted that the number of homes being built and bought was holding up but “the same cannot be said of the second-hand market”.
He argued that the scarcity was pushing up prices, particularly in Dublin, where many new homes are being built. “The typical second-hand home bought in Dublin between June and September sold for 7.6 per cent above its listed price, the biggest gap since records began in 2010,” he said.
“Conditions elsewhere are similar, with a record average premium of 5.4 per cent above the listed price nationally,” Mr Lyons added.
He predicted that falling interest rates would aid the market.
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