Home sales up as viewings hit highest level since the boom

HOUSE sales are up as viewings rise to their highest level since the end of the boom in 2008, auctioneers say.

The latest figures show the normally quiet month of November was the busiest for the whole of last year with 4,326 sales as housebuyers played catch-up from the lockdown halting viewings earlier in the year.

However, as sales surge, prices have started to go up again. After months of prices dipping, the market was up by 0.2% in November, to an average of just below €295,000.

A spokesman for agents Sherry FitzGerald said: ‘November was absolutely busier than normal, it’s been very busy every month. There was no real Christmas seasonal lull. Similarly, the summer was irrelevant, normally quiet but not last year.

‘We made up for the loss in sales over Lockdown One.’

A surge in viewings and sales meant October and November were the ‘busiest months for auctioneers since 2008’, according to David Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation.

He said: ‘I don’t think there’s any issue about a recovery in the market; October and November, auctioneers will tell you, have been their busiest time since 2008 for market activity. There’s no real recovery issue at all, the appetite is there. Don’t forget there are a number of people who’ve not been in the market because of Covid, so they’ll be back in the market now.’

Many potential buyers are now looking at working from home more, and are checking broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural locations where they can buy bigger houses. ‘People looking at a house will be thinking if they need to check the back-up as well – “If I need to work remotely from here, can I be contacted?”’ added Mr Hall.

Angela Keegan, of myhome. ie, said: ‘I’ve spoken to a number of agents and they said, yes, they’ve had a good Quarter 4 in comparison to previous years.

‘However, it doesn’t go any way to make up for the loss of Quarter 2 this year. If you look at October, November and December, particularly November and December, and compare them to the same months last year, yes, most agents would say they are noticeably busier.

‘That’s anecdotally what we have heard in the run-up to Christmas. But they will also tell you nothing will make up for the loss of the lockdown early in the year and we can see that in that 14,000 less properties came to the market in 2020.’

She added: ‘Some people would say it’s playing catchup; remember it’s being compared to the same period last year which traditionally in the property market is a much quieter period.’

Property Industry Ireland director David Duffy said: ‘It’s interesting that prices have held up given the pandemic; that’s further evidence of the demand/supply imbalance.

‘The demand is still there, supply is still lower than demand and maybe people were factoring in that the impact of Covid on new construction, so they knew that not only was supply tight now, but the increase in supply is going to be more moderate

‘They’ll be back in the market’ ‘Some say it’s playing catch-up’

than we had thought.’

KBC Bank chief economist Austin Hughes said the most notable feature of the data was the positive change in transactions since March.’

When the pandemic struck, sales collapsed by almost half, showing a 46% drop in May. But they have bounced back.

He added: ‘The turnaround has been broadly based, albeit marginally more pronounced for first-time buyers.’