Property value estimated at over €250,000 by 14% of homeowners

Just over 14 per cent of homeowners claimed their home was worth more than €250,000 when they paid their property tax this year, according to figures from the Revenue Commissioners.

More than half of the total (53.5 per cent) rated their homes as being worth less than €150,000, while just 0.2 per cent said their homes were worth more than €1 million for the local property tax assessment.

The average property price in Ireland is now €193,000, according to myhome.ie, yet three-quarters of all homeowners valued their home at less than €200,000.

Just 2.4 per cent of owners rated their property as being worth more than €500,000.

Almost a quarter (24.9 per cent) assessed their homes as being worth less than €100,000. Some 28.6 per cent valued their homes at between €100,000 and €150,000.

Households
The figures, released yesterday, show some 90 per cent of households have paid the local property tax, while the amount paid at the end of September stood at €200 million.

The highest rate of compliance was in Dún Laoghaire-
Rathdown at 92 per cent; the lowest rates were in Donegal and Louth, both at 84 per cent.

Dublin city had a compliance rate of 87 per cent. Most local authority areas were near the 90 per cent mark.

Payment
The main source of payment was by credit or debit card, at 53.1 per cent, single debit authority and cheque (31.3 per cent) and direct debit (8.3 per cent).

Only 1.6 per cent of homes, or about 25,000 properties, claimed an exemption based on criteria set out by the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan. A property remaining unsold by a builder/developer (17.1 per cent) was the most common reason given for seeking an exemption.

Some 16.1 per cent of exemptions were claimed by those living in ghost estates and 15 per cent of claims were based on long-term illness.

Less than 8 per cent (7.9 per cent) of those who claimed exemptions were first-time buyers who bought a property since January 1st this year, while pyrite damage accounted for 4.7 per cent of exemptions, amounting to about 1,175 households. In addition, 1.1 per cent or 18,000 homeowners claimed a deferral based on inability to pay.