House price inflation jumps to 7-year high of 15.3%

House price inflation surged to a seven-year high of 15.3 per cent in February as red hot demand continues to outstrip supply. This was up from an annual rate of 14.8 per cent the previous month and just 3 per cent a year ago.

Price growth in the State’s property market has risen almost continually since the start of the pandemic, fuelled by factors such as increased savings, remote working and lower-than-anticipated supply.

The latest official figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show the annualised rate of price growth in Dublin was 13.5 per cent in February while property prices outside the capital were 16.8 per cent higher year on year.

The figures show the average price paid for a home over the last 12 months was €330,294. The average price in Dublin (€509,588) was the highest in any region or county.

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Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest mean price in the Dublin region at €711,027, while South Dublin had the lowest at €408,208.

The Border region was the least expensive region in the year to February 2022, with a mean price of €172,186.

The CSO said the number of property transactions in February rose month on month by almost 2 per cent to 3,584 while the total value of transactions filed with Revenue was €1.2 billion.

The latest figures come amid a biting cost-of-living squeeze, which is expected to curb housing demand down the line.

Property prices nationally have increased by 117.3 per cent from their trough in early 2013 while Dublin prices have risen 122.1 per cent from their February 2012 low.

Trevor Grant of the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisors said: “Being a buyer in Ireland’s property market at the moment is a real challenge. You’re facing high prices, lots of competition and a lack of supply.”

“Demand outstripping supply has been putting upward pressure on property prices for a few years at this stage, but we are now also seeing the real impact of pandemic savings,” he said.