NEW REPORTS RELEASED today have slightly differing approaches to the current situation with house prices in Ireland.
Daft.ie’s report says that asking prices in Dublin in the first quarter of 2013 were up 0.5 per cent on a year previously.
Its report for the first quarter of 2013 marks the first time since early 2007 that asking prices increased in a 12-month period.
For the country as a whole, the annual rate of falls in asking prices eased to 6.6 per cent, down from 15 per cent a year ago. This means that prices are on average 54.7 per cent below their peak in 2007.
Rest of Ireland
This small increase is not seen in other cities, where prices are down by between 9.8 per cent in Cork and 14.6 per cent in Waterford.
In Galway, asking prices are down by 10.7 per cent, while in Limerick they are down by 12.9 per cent. Outside the cities, prices were down by roughly 10 per cent on average, although the fall was greater in Connacht-Ulster (15 per cent) than in Leinster (8.5 per cent) or Munster (9.5 per cent).
Figures for time-to-sell indicate that there has been some improvement in market conditions over the past 12 months, with 40 per cent of properties finding a buyer within 4 months, compared to 33 per cent a year ago. In Dublin, 55 per cent of properties find a buyer within 4 months.
The total stock of properties sitting on the market nationwide is 43,000, which is the lowest level since mid-2007 but based on figures from the Property Price Register, still represents just over two years of transactions. In Dublin, however, there is the equivalent of just five months of transactions currently sitting on the market.
Economist with Daft.ie Ronan Lyons said:
The latest figures show that the gap between prices in Dublin and those elsewhere is growing and growing quite rapidly. A year ago, a 4-bedroom detached home in South County Dublin was 2.6 times the prices of the same property in Mayo but that ratio has since risen to 3.5, well above levels seen at the bubble.
He said that on its own, the growing differential between Dublin and elsewhere signifies that first-time buyers are no longer prepared to sprawl and pay the costs of long commutes. “But with prices actually rising again and only in certain parts of the country, this has even greater implications for the Government, as it suggests that there are not enough properties in areas close to jobs and other amenities that first-time buyers are looking for.”
The full report is available here.
House prices
Mewanwhile, the MyHome.ie report says that the rate of decline in property prices nationally has continued to moderate, with prices falling by 1.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
Its latest survey shows the annual rate of decline in the year to Q1 2013 as 9.8 per cent, the lowest annual rate of decline in five years.
For the first time since the property crash in 2006, Dublin prices have remained unchanged for the second quarter in a row, it adds. The annual rate of decline in Dublin was 4.8 per cent in the quarter, down from 12 per cent in Q4 2012.
The figures show that the average house price nationally now stands at €197K, down 52 per cent from the peak of the market. In Dublin the corresponding figure is €236K, down 56 per cent from peak.
The author of the report Annette Hughes, from DKM Economic Consultants said:
Immediate issues impacting the market include the increasing demands on disposable incomes – the property tax for example – and access to mortgage finance. Progress on addressing the mortgage arrears challenge over the coming months may lead to an increase in the number of properties coming to the market which may depress property prices further in the short term. This development together with a difficult budget later in the year would suggest property prices are likely to remain volatile through 2013.
The median asking price in Cork and Cork City remained unchanged during the last quarter at €195K while it also remained unchanged in Waterford at €179K, says MyHome.ie.
In Co Limerick, the median price fell by 2.9 per cent to €165K while in the city, it fell by 3.2 per cent to €150K. In Co Galway, prices fell by 1.3 per cent to €185K. This was the smallest fall in over a year. In Galway city, prices fell by 3.2 per cent to €179K.
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