As prices rise, the number of available properties falls.
The average price for a house in Ireland is 7.3% higher than it was this time last year, and over 50% higher than it was five years ago, according to the latest quarterly housing price report from Daft.
Issued on Sunday, the report reveals that housing prices in Dublin have risen by 8.4% in the last quarter, with the average list price in the capital amounting to €368,356 – an increase of €145,000 since 2013.
Comparing prices across Ireland in the first three months of 2018 versus the last three months of 2017, prices rose in 53 of the 54 markets covered in the report, with only Monaghan recording a slight fall.
Compared with prices from just a year ago, only Donegal has seen a fall in figures.
The number of properties available, meanwhile, continues to fall, with just 20,000 properties on the market in March.
In Dublin, listings increased significantly from 2,700 one year ago to 3,500 now, however that was largely offset by a fall in availability elsewhere.
At time of writing, Dublin has 16,800 listed properties, down 1,000 on this time last year and the lowest on record since January 2007.
“The picture of the housing market in Ireland currently remains one of strong demand and very tight supply pushing up prices,” said Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the report.
“There are some elements for cautious optimism, including an increase in transaction volumes countrywide and in stock on the market in Dublin,” he added.
“Nonetheless, during a five-year period when consumer prices did not change, housing prices rose by 50%. This is an indication of how inadequate housing supply is.”
A spokesperson for Daft.ie noted that noted that on average 1,000 searches take place every minute on the website.
The average house price and year-on-year change in Ireland’s major cities looks like this:
- Dublin City: €368,356 – up 8.4%
- Cork City: €261,494 – up 1.7%
- Galway City: €273,466 – up 3.1%
- Limerick City: €180,670 – up 3.7%
- Waterford City: €164,930 – up 7.5%
In addition, the report notes that Ireland is “urbanising” and that Dublin and the other major cities will likely account for 80% of the country’s population by the mid-century.
“Ireland is in the middle of a century-long process of moving from rural households of roughly four persons to an urban society of two persons per household,” argues Lyons. “This has huge implications for what we build and how. Supply will be needed in and around the cities – and predominantly in apartment form.
“What is clear is that this is not happening. Planning permission was granted for a little over 5,000 apartments, nationwide, in 2017, and for 20,000 dwellings in total – less than half the likely demand. It is often said that the mantra in the housing market is “location, location, location”. For housing policy in Ireland, it needs to be ‘supply, supply, supply’.”
View the full report here.
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