Property prices fell by over 3pc in June but tenants paying even higher rents

PROPERTY prices were down in the year to June, but rental costs continue to rise nationwide.

The latest Daft.ie report on house sales and rents shows that property prices were down 3.3pc in June compared with the same month last year. This saw the average list sale price fall to €254,000 in June.

Last year the average price was €262,500, which means prices have dropped by almost €8,600 in a year.

The average cost of renting a property across the State rose by 0.2pc to €1,400 a month, or just €3.

Prices for property fell by 2.9pc in Leinster and by almost 5pc in Munster.

However, rents are going the other way. Dublin rents rose by 0.5pc in the year, while in Leinster, outside Dublin, they were up by 1.2pc. Connacht and Ulster saw rents fall 2pc in

June compared with the same month last year.

There was a sharp recovery in the number of properties for sale in June compared with April and May.

A total of 5,200 properties were listed for sale in June. This compares with just 2,000 in both April and May.

Sales activity collapsed by three-quarters in April and May, Daft.ie said. But by June the number of homes for sale was just 15pc lower than in the same month last year.

However, there was a 38pc rise in the number of homes advertised to rent in June from the same month last year, with Dublin driving the increase, according to Daft.ie.

National house prices fell by 3.3pc in June compared with last year, to €253,868.

In Dublin the average price dropped by almost 4pc to €369,000. This is a fall of €14,697 in a year for average prices in the State’s most populous county.

Leinster has an average price of €233,000, down 2.9pc on the year.

Munster saw prices fall by almost 5pc to €210,000, with Connacht-Ulster seeing a rise of 0.7pc in the year to €175,300.

Rents nationwide rose by 0.2pc to an average of €1,402 in the year to June.

In Dublin, the average rent is now €2,023, a rise of 0.5pc. This is €9 a month dearer than last year. Rental costs rose by 1.2pc in Leinster to €1,200.

In Munster the average rental cost bucked the trend, with a fall of 0.2pc to €1,060. In Connacht-Ulster the average rental cost is now €859, down 2pc, according to the survey of asking prices.

Daft.ie report author and Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons said the June figures reflect an element of pent-up demand from the lockdown months of April and May.

“This is particularly the case for sales,” he said.