In August, the rise in housing prices in the Republic continued, reflecting a strong demand with a substantial growth rate of 10.1% annually, a leap from 9.6% in July. This rise, recorded for the 12th successive month, is a concern for potential homebuyers as it indicates ongoing inflation. Monthly, the prices have increased by about 0.9%.
Notably, in Dublin, the annual price growth saw a more significant rise, standing at 10.8%. Several contributing factors to this continual hike include a lack of properties available, Government incentives for home buyers, and favourable mortgage rates forecasted to lower even more in the face of future interest rate cuts.
The latest statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) from the residential property price index suggest that over the course of a year leading to August, the median price households had to pay for a home was €345,000. The lowest medium price noted was in Longford, at €175,000, and the highest was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, at €635,000.
Now the CSO’s index has reached a value of 185.6, exceeding its peak value by 13.4% during the property boom in April 2007. Prices outside Dublin have risen by 14%, outdoing their previous highest in May 2007, whereas the prices of homes within the capital city are currently 1.8% more than their peak in February 2007.
However, a slump in the housing market was noted in August, with only 3,990 homes bought at market price, a 15.5% decline from the previous month.