Prices won’t fall ’til new homes are built

PROPERTY MARKET STARTS TO STABILISE

HOUSE prices barely rose at all in the third quarter of the year — and will not begin to fall until more new homes are built.

That’s according to the latest sales report released by Ireland’s largest property website, Daft.ie.

The average listed price nationwide in the third quarter of this year was €311,514 — up 0.1 per cent on the average for the second quarter of this year.

And the number of homes available to buy on September 1 stood at nearly 15,500 – the highest total nationally in almost two years.

This figure includes 4,000 homes for sale in the Dublin area which is up 30 per cent on last year.

Compared to three months ago, prices were stable in Dublin but rose slightly in the other cities.

The increase in this availability is driven by Dublin and the rest of Leinster, where it is up 40 per cent, although stock is also higher than a year ago in Munster (up eight per cent) and Connacht-Ulster (up 15 per cent).

Cities

Cork city prices rose by 0.2 per cent and Limerick by 0.3 per cent, while Galway prices rose by 0.5 per cent and Waterford by 0.6 per cent between the second and third quarters.

Outside the cities, prices rose in

Leinster (1.1 per cent) but fell in Munster (-0.7 per cent) and Connacht-Ulster (-0.5 per cent). Despite these falls, year-on-year inflation remains positive in each county – from 5.4 per cent in Meath to 16.8 per cent in Donegal. Ronan Lyons, Trinity College Dublin economist and report author, said: “Improved stock on the market over the course of 2022 has helped reduce inflationary pressures in the sales market. “While weaker demand – due to inflation in other living expenses and increases in interest rates – may help stabilise prices, the true solution to the high level of housing prices remains significantly increased supply.”