House sales down but value is on up

A new study based on an analysis of the Property Price Register shows that the number of sales fell in by Sligo by 17.2% in the first half of the year compared to 2016.

Other counties to show falls were Galway, Limerick and Waterford Longford (19%) and Donegal (14.5%). Sales figures rose in twenty counties and fell in six, including Sligo with the amount of money however spent on property in each county up in all with the exception of Clare and Donegal where the amount spent fell back by 19% and 7 % respectively.

Nationally, sales figures increased by 8.4% in the first half of 2017, compared to the same period last year. The study, which was carried out by leading property website MyHome.ie, shows that there were 23,148 sales nationally in the first half of the year. The value of those transactions also increased significantly, rising from €5.1bn to €5.8bn, an increase of 15%.

Unsurprisingly, it was Dublin that led the way in the first six months of the year with 7,455 sales – an increase of 11% on the 6,717 sales recorded for the same period last year. The amount of money spent in the capital also grew by 13.2%, from €2.7bn to over €3bn.

The capital was followed by Cork (2,532), Kildare (1,212), Galway (1,138) with Meath (970) and Limerick (834) making the top six.

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie said the overall increase in sales in the first six months was a move in the right direction for the property market.

“In 2016 there were over 48,000 house sales and we think that if current trends continue we should comfortably exceed 50,000 sales this year.

“The rise in sales and values in the commuter belt is the standout feature in these figures and indicates that the lack of supply of affordable houses is pushing buyers out of Dublin.

“The downside of this trend and something which has been highlighted in recent reports is the increase in commuting times for people working in Dublin.”

“The impact of rising prices is also evident even in counties which recorded small increases in the number of sales. For example the number of sales fell in Galway by 1.4% but the value of those transactions was up 9%. Similarly in Limerick the number of sales was down marginally – 0.1% - but the value of those transactions was up 16.7 %” she said. The counties with the lowest number of sales were Longford (177), Monaghan (201), Leitrim (224) and Carlow (247).