Kerry property prices down from last quarter

PROPERTY prices in Kerry have decreased slightly after three unchanged quarters. That’s according to the latest MyHome.ie Property Report in association with Davy.

The report is for Q4 of 2019 and shows that the median asking price for a property in the county has dropped by €50 to €184,950 – the first drop in price since Q4 in 2018 when the figure stood at €180,000. The findings are sure to be greeted enthusiastically by people seeking to buy a home in 2020. The asking price for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county went up slightly to €155,000 from €154,750 in Q3, while prices for this house type is up 3 percent from €150,000 on this time 12 months ago.

Meanwhile, the asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Kerry decreased marginally by 1.4 percent in the quarter to €186,000 - down from €188,500 in Q3. Prices in this segment are also up by just €1,000 compared with this time last year.

The number of properties for sale in Kerry on MyHome.ie decreased by 5 percent in the last quarter and by 8 percent on this time last year.

The average time for a property to go ‘sale agreed’ in the county after being placed up for sale, now stands at just over six months.

Commenting on the report on a national level, author of the report, Conall MacCoille - Chief Economist at Davy - said that the slowdown in house price inflation was to be welcomed and was inevitable given the stretched affordability.

“Central Bank rules have stopped first-time buyers taking out too much mortgage debt and should lead to more realistic asking prices. Our analysis shows that the average residential transaction in Ireland (€292,000) is now 6.8x the average income of €43,000. This is only slightly below the UK’s ratio of 7x. This is the first time since 2012 that Ireland’s house-price-to-income ratio has declined.”

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said it was welcome that clarity was emerging regarding Brexit and Central Bank mortgage lending rules.

“For most of the year we understandably saw prospective purchasers being reluctant to take the plunge due to these two unresolved issues, leading to sluggish house price inflation. The clarity we now have will likely lead to more settled price expectations and a stabilisation of residential transactions in 2020,” she said. Ms Keegan continued: “It remains to be seen how the Central Bank’s decision to keep mortgage rules unchanged, and indeed Brexit will affect the Irish market in the long term. But at least now purchasers can plan without being fearful of any sudden shocks.” Full details of the report can be found at www.myhome.ie/report