HOUSE PRICES AND RENTS RISING AS THE DEMAND FAR EXCEEDS THE SUPPLY
STATISTICS ON HOUSE PRICES VARY DEPENDING ON THE SOURCE, BUT THE FACT REMAINS THAT LOCAL BUYERS AND RENTERS FACE AN INCREASINGLY HARSH REALITY
“A landlord might be renting a house for €900, but because of the high rates of tax and PRSI, he or she is only netting €400” COLUM MURPHY KEHOE AND ASSOCIATES
TWO different reports on property prices and sales have been published this month, one based on sellers’ aspirations and the other on actual sales.
Not surprisingly the figures being quoted vary considerably, but where there is common ground is that prices are rising and the numbers of first-time buyers are not, that rents are going up and demand far exceeds supply because too few new houses are being built.
The net effect of this is that many firsttime buyers are being priced out of the market and renters face an uphill battle to find a house or flat.
And those receiving social welfare payments are even worse off as the gap grows between what they are able to pay, even with their allowances, and the rents landlords are asking for.
Wexford auctioneer Colum Murphy, from Kehoe and Associates, said a newly-published IPAV report put the price of an average three-bed semi in the county at €145,000 - but in reality a new three-bed semi would cost in the region of €185,000 to €200,000 ‘if you can find one because there is no availability’.
‘When I compare the figures to the reality when I look across the websites, I think we are looking at an opinion-based report rather than actuality, with about a 10 per cent variance in prices,’ he said of the IPAV figures.
Mr Murphy said any three-bed semis that were coming on to the market at the lower end of the price range were most likely ex-rentals being off-loaded by over-taxed landlords which would need thousands spent on them. ‘A landlord might be renting a house for €900, but in reality and because of the high rates of tax and PRSI, he or she is only netting €400,’ Mr Murphy told this newspaper.
Quoting CSO ‘ transaction-based’ figures for the four districts in the county for the first seven months of the year, he said the Wexford average was €165,000, Enniscorthy was slightly higher at €150,000, Gorey at €178,000 and New Ross at €127,000.
‘I have two observations, the first is that the numbers of first-time buyers are reducing compared to the same period last year and there are reducing numbers of investors purchasing to rent out,’ he said.
Mr Murphy said the percentage change in overall house prices in the region showed a 14.6 per cent increase over the past 12 months, compared to a 6.7 rise in the previous 12 months ‘so there definitely is acceleration’.
According to the IPAV survey, Wexford house prices rose on average by 15 per cent, from €97,537,928 in the first half of 2016 to 112,276,169 in he first half of this year. It said the percentage increase in Wexford is slightly lower than the Leinster average rise of 16 per cent.
In neighbouring Wicklow, prices have risen by 25 per cent over the same period, from €192,628,249 to €240,139,165. Waterford averages have risen by only two per cent to €86,365,937.
Clare and Donegal are the only counties where prices have gone down, by 19 per cent to €82,851,109 and €67,785,830 respectively.
The MyHome figures say the number of sales