New report shows 12% rise in residential property prices

In Dublin, residential property prices were up 11.6% in the year to December. House prices in the capital went up by 10.8% over 2017, while the price of apartments in Dublin saw a 14.7% hike in the same period.

The rise in property prices was greater outside Dublin, where they rose 13.3% over the 12 months of 2017. House prices increased 13.2% over the year, and apartment prices went up 15% over the same period.

House price growth rose from a low of 11% in the south-east to a high of 16.4% in the West.

Overall, prices nationally have risen by 72.1% since they bottomed out in early 2013. In the capital, prices have increased 87.3% since their low point in February 2012, and prices in the rest of the country have increased by 64.8% since May 2013.

Despite the rises, the national index is still 22.9% lower than its peak in 2007. Dublin prices are 24.4% lower than at their height in February 2007, while prices in the rest of Ireland are 28.4% lower than their May 2007 peak.

The CSO also released a breakdown of the median house prices by Eircode — with A96 ‘Glenageary’ topping the list at €605,000, followed by A94 ‘Blackrock’ (€570,000) and D6 ‘Dublin 6’, (€567,000).

The 10 most expensive Eircode areas by median price were in Dublin, and the most expensive outside the capital were areas within commuting distance — A63 ‘Greystones’ topped the rest of the country list with a median price of €385,000.

It was followed by A98 ‘Bray’, (€350,000) and A86 ‘Dunboyne’, (€328,000).

In Cork, P17 ‘Kinsale’ was the most expensive Eircode areas by median price at €317,000, followed by T56 ‘Watergrasshill’ (€307,500).

There is a stark difference in the median price of houses between the north and south side of Cork City — the €262,250 median price in T12 ‘Cork Southside’ is over 45% higher than the €180,000 recorded in T23 ‘Cork Northside’.

Fewer than one in three of those who bought a residential property in 2017 were first-time buyers.

Figures show there were 43,362 household market dwelling purchases filed with the Revenue Commissioners. Of those, 12,278 (28.3%) were by first-time buyer owner-occupiers with 22,387 (51.6%) acquired by former owner-occupiers and 8,697 (20.1%) bought by non-occupiers.

Brokers Ireland, an organisation representing 1,300 broker firms, says the confirmed rise in house prices combined with reports on the rental sector earlier in the week show that many are being left to decide whether to pay excessive rents or compete for a limited housing supply.

Rachel McGovern, director of financial services at Brokers Ireland, said the number of ESB connections, “a highly questionable measure of new builds”, was at 19,271 in 2017.

“Yet housing demand is estimated to be running at about 40,000 homes a year. Either way, even the most favourable interpretation leaves supply well short of demand with a considerable backlog on top of yearly shortfall,” she said.