Homes in half of State’s counties selling in excess of asking price

Homes in about half the Republic’s counties are selling for more than their asking prices, according to one property website.

Perfect Property says analysis shows that the average price at which dwellings sold in the first six months of the year rose 4 per cent on the same period in 2018.

The company’s research indicates that homes sold in more than 50 per cent of counties in the Republic achieve a higher price than that at which they are offered in the first place.

The figures, based on scrutiny of the national Residential Property Price Register, show that mainly rural counties enjoyed the highest increase in the prices at which houses sold.

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They included Longford at 26 per cent, Kerry at 23 per cent, Roscommon at 13 per cent, Donegal at 12 per cent and Cavan at 11 per cent. Carlow, Laois and Waterford all came in at 9 per cent.

Selling prices dropped 7 per cent in Cork and Galway, 5 per cent in Wicklow and 4 per cent in Dublin.

During the second quarter of the year across the Republic, homes sold for 7 per cent more on average than the price at which they were offered in the first half of the year.

This was down from the first three months of 2019, when homes beat their asking price by 12 per cent, but shows that properties still need not be discounted in order to sell.

The biggest difference was in Sligo, where selling prices outstripped list prices by 11 per cent.

Wexford followed this with a 10 per cent difference while Cork, Kildare and Leitrim all recorded a difference of 8 per cent.

While prices in Dublin fell, owners were still able to sell their properties for 6 per cent more than the price that they originally sought.

Laura Pollard, managing director, said the research showed a dynamic housing market across the Republic, with considerable regional variation.

“While the country is up 4 per cent as a whole from this time last year, this spurt of growth has not been experienced in all areas, with Cork, Galway, Wicklow and Dublin showing a decrease in prices,” she added.