Sharp rise in apartment prices since January

THE asking prices for two-bed apartments in Kerry are the third highest of counties in the Republic, and the highest outside of the Dublin commuter belt.

MyHome.ie’s second quarter report shows that house prices in the county as a whole have risen by over 2 per cent, driven by the astonishing spike in the figures for 2-bed apartments.

The average price of two-bed apartments is now at €140,000, a 41 per cent rise from what it was in quarter one (€99,000), and up almost 50 per cent on last year’s average asking price.

Kerry only trails Dublin and Wicklow on this table, and has overtaken Cork.

The average price of 3-bed semi-detached houses in Kerry remained static at €130,000 for the third consecutive quarterly period, while the average asking price of 4-bed semi-detached houses has taken a third tumble in a row, and has dropped by €6,500 in a quarter.

David McNamara, an economist at Davy, explained that the seemingly incredible spike in the price of 2-bed apartments in Kerry is not all that unusual when looked at against previous movements in other counties:

“The apartment market tends to be more volatile, and other counties have had similar spikes in the past.”

“Looking at Kerry’s figures in that market, the average has hovered between €90,000 and €100,000 for some time, so the new figure looks like an outlier.”

“That average might well have been the result of a small sample size, so I think there’s a good chance the figure is misleading.”

Conall MacCoille authored the report and is chief economist at Davy.

Prices have risen by 5 per cent nationally according to data from the website, and Mr MacCoille attributed this to supply shortage and wage inflation:

“The number of properties for sale is almost at an historic low, and as a result the average ‘sale agreed’ time is coming down consistently.”

“I would expect further rises during the remainder of 2016.”