House prices rose in the first quarter of year
THE price of the average three-bed semi in County Wicklow increased by 0.4 per cent to €285,200 in the first three months of the year, up to the outbreak of Covid-19, according to a national survey carried out by Real Estate Alliance.
The Q1 REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi.
It gives an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide to the start of the current crisis, which has seen a sudden slowdown in activity according to REA.
The average price in Baltinglass rose by 2.94 per cent this quarter to €175,000, and time taken to sell rose from 12 weeks to 16. Prices in Blessington were static this quarter at €295,000 with time taken to sell rising by a fortnight to eight weeks.
Prices this quarter in North East Wicklow, Bray and Wicklow town remained unchanged at €306,000, €340,000 and €310,000 respectively, with time to sell in these areas rising this quarter from 13 weeks to 15.
Average house prices nationally returned to growth with an increase in activity in the first three months of the year up the outbreak of Covid-19. The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by 0.14 per cent over the past three months to €235,028, after an annual decline of 0.63 per cent in 2019.
‘ There is no doubt that we saw a stronger market in Q1 up to the start of the current health crisis, with increased first-time buyer activity and higher transaction levels than in the second half of 2019,’ said REA spokesperson Barry McDonald.
‘We are suddenly in a time of uncertainty, and a pause button has been pressed on activity, but the fundamental issue of a lack of supply remains. The recent State interventions are welcome in providing increasing levels of security and certainty to loan-approved buyers. Many of our agents are accelerating the move to virtual viewings and online selling methods as the market adapts to the Covid-19 restrictions. We are in a different place than in 2008, and we will benefit from the effects that the Central Bank’s lending restrictions have had on a market that has experienced conservative rather than rapid growth over the past seven years. We also don’t have the huge amount of small-time investors that we saw in the crash as they have left the market in an orderly fashion over the past few years. There is unity in the country.’