FIVE MAJOR HOME TRUTHS

APARTMENTS COST UP TO €578,000 – JUST TO BUILD!

The cost of building a threebedroomed home in Dublin is now €330,493, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland. This figure excludes site costs, which are soaring. And the build cost of a two-bed apartment ranges from €293,000 to €578,000 for a high-end pad. Little wonder building activity is only beginning to get off the ground.

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES ARE LOWER THAN IN THE UK

Every nation has its obsessions. Ours happens to be property.

We have been talking prices up for so long that it seems they must be in the stratosphere by now. In fact, house prices here, nationally, are way lower than they are in Britain, on average.

Longford is the cheapest county despite a 32% rise since 2016 with *Based on 40 hour week an average price of just €90,000 for a three-bed semi-D according to the Real Estate Alliance. Leitrim (€97,000) and Donegal (€93,750) are not far ahead. Prices are so cheap in most parts of the country that it will be years before it’s worthwhile building. In Dublin the average semi-D now costs €431,500. This makes it profitable to build again, which is why homebuilders are only now starting up again. However, builders are focusing on pricey homes in upmarket areas to make the most profits.

IT’S STILL WORTH HOARDING LAND – DESPITE GOVERNMENT SITE TAX

Sites soar in value even more than houses. Builders can make much more profits by selling sites instead of constructing homes, exacerbating the housing crisis. Government policy has not helped. First it brought in an incentive to hoard sites before introducing a vacant site levy that won’t take effect until 2019, at three per cent, rising to seven per cent in 2020.

CORK, LIMERICK AND GALWAY GET FEW NEW HOMES

There are few homes being built in urban areas outside Dublin, despite a growing need for them. Limerick had only 119 new builds – in city and county. Galway city had just 81, while Cork City Council had just 28, according to the latest BER registrations.

‘SQUEEZED MIDDLE’ ARE OUT IN THE COLD

The number of pricey new homes under construction has increased sharply. So too have social home builds. Pressures for housing will start to alleviate for the well-off – and social housing tenants. People on middle incomes will be left out in the cold as prices and rents continue to rise inexorably and we have no functioning affordable housing policy.