THE COST OF A THREE-BED SEMI JUMPS 20% IN YEAR WITH GOREY THE PRICIEST
THE PRICE of the average three-bed semi in Wexford rose by 20 per cent to €180,000 in the last 12 months, according to a national survey carried out by Real Estate Alliance.
However, average prices of threebed semis in Gorey, increasingly a commuter town serving Dublin, are the highest in the county at around €220,000.
Robert McCormack, from REA McCormack Corish, said there was a spurt in Wexford prices during the first four or five months of 2017, which had in the main driven the increase.
Mr McCormack said an average three-bed semi in Enniscorthy, while in New Ross, prices had risen to around €120,000, which reflected a yearon-year rise of 10 to 15 per cent. He said prices in Enniscorthy could rise substantially when the new section of the M11, bypassing the town, opens at the end this year.
Mr McCormack predicts that property values in the county will rise by six per cent this year.
The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an up-todate picture of the property market in towns and cities countrywide.
‘We expect an increase in demand especially in the first two quarters from first-time buyers and investors as confidence grows,” said Mr McCormack.
‘We have also seen an increasing number of non-national buyers enter the market who are extremely well organised and always have their mortgage in place and deposits ready to go,’ he said.
Overall, the average house price across the country rose by 11.3 per cent over the past 12 months – compared to 7.7 per cent nationally in 2016.
‘The heated market that we saw throughout much of 2017 has cooled somewhat and we are now in a period of more certainty,’ said REA spokesperson Healy Hynes.
‘A lack of supply is still the main driver of the market, with listings of second-hand properties at a low level around the country.
‘Anything that does go on sale is reaching sale agreed in a short period of time – five weeks on average and four weeks in Dublin city. However, this is not normal in a properly functioning market, where time periods of eight weeks to sale agreed are more common.’
The lowest increase in the fourth quarter of 2017 was reflected in the country’s cities outside of Dublin, where the grouping of Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway returned one per cent growth, with average prices increasing by €2,375 to €238,625.
Towns throughout the rest of the country saw rises of 2.6 per cent in the fourth quarter with the average three-bed semi now costing €146,633, up 12.3 per cent from €130,600 in December 2016.
An increase in mortgage-approved buyers and the Help To Buy Scheme saw first-time buyers return to viewings in force over the past 12 months.
PROPERTIES ARE REACHING SALE AGREED IN A SHORT PERIOD – AN AVERAGE OF JUST FIVE WEEKS