Irish house price growth slows to three-year low

Asking price inflation is at its slowest pace in over three years.

MyHome’s latest report shows annual asking price growth slowed to 3.9% in the third quarter of 2026, its lowest rate since Q2 2023.

Prices rose by 4.8% in Dublin and 2.1% elsewhere, however, quarterly asking prices fell by 1.4% nationally, including a 2.3% drop in Dublin and a 1% decline across the rest of Ireland.

MyHome reported a median national asking price of €390,000 for July to September, rising to €480,000 in Dublin and €349,000 across the rest of Ireland.

The report also recorded a 12.5% annual increase in properties listed for sale on MyHome, bringing the total to 14,630.

This comes as homebuilding has "hit a new milestone, with total accommodation capacity of the 38,000 homes built in the year to June comfortably outpacing population growth for the first time".

While the survey suggests that affordability "remains stretched" at about 7.7 times' the average earnings, it still "makes more financial sense" to buy than rent, with rental yields "still outpacing mortgage rates."

Rents rose by 9.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, marking the fastest rate of rental inflation since mid-2023.

The report also found that improving a home's BER rating can increase its value by 2.7% per rating step, with an upgrade from C to A potentially adding 10–13% to the property's value.

Author of the report and Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, Conall MacCoille, described the report as "good news for homebuyers".

"The rate of asking price inflation continues to slow, the number of properties for sale on MyHome is rising, and homebuilding has picked up. All of these factors point to positive news for homebuyers," he said.

Looking toward the affordability findings, Mr MacCoille acknowledged "while it makes more financial sense to buy rather than rent, affordability is clearly problematic for many homebuyers".

"The median residential property price at €412,000 (selling price) is now 7.7 times’ average pay of €54,000.

"However, the typical joint income of first-time buyers in 2025 was €95,000, purchasing a property worth €408,000, equivalent to four times’ their income.

"MyHome is almost exactly on track for our forecast that the official CSO measure of transaction prices, the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI), will see a 4% rise through 2026," he added.

MyHome's forecast for housing completions remians unchanged at 39,600 in 2026 and 42,000 in 2027, with Mr MacCoille calling it "a far better outlook than many commentators had suggested just 12-18 months ago".