The recent property price index from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggests that residential property values showed an impressive increase in February, summing up to a yearly rate of over 6 per cent. The rate of property price growth was stronger than the 5.4 per cent observed in the previous year. Furthermore, prices have been consistently growing for the past six months.
Dublin’s housing market saw an annual increase of 5.6 per cent in February, as declared by the CSO, while prices in areas outside of Dublin saw a higher growth of 6.5 per cent. The previous year had witnessed a slowdown in the housing market due to rising borrowing costs brought about by the European Central Bank’s (ECB) ten continuous interest rate increases.
Nevertheless, the market seems to be regaining momentum due to persistent supply pressures and the anticipated decrease in interest rates later this year. Government initiatives supporting affordability have also contributed to the resurgence of house price growth, particularly among first-time home buyers.
In February, the prices climbed by 0.3 per cent from one month to the next, although this is less than the 0.7 per cent monthly rise witnessed earlier. The CSO reports that, over the past 12 months, the median price for residential homes was €330,000.
Dublin saw the highest median price at €445,000. Within Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown topped the list with the highest median price (€620,000), while Fingal reported the lowest (€410,000). Wicklow (€440,000) and Kildare (€395,000) reported the highest median prices outside Dublin, while Leitrim had the lowest at €165,000.
In February, a total of 3,327 housing purchases took place, a figure that marks an 8.1 per cent drop from January’s 3,621 purchases. These transactions amounted to a total value of €1.2 billion, as stated by the CSO.
Endless escalation in the cost of homes maintains widespread concern among prospective first-time homeowners over their ability to penetrate the real estate market this year. Thanks to the ongoing imbalance between a limited availability of housing and high demand, chances to curb this growth are scant,” stated Trevor Grant, leader of the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisers.