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ASKING PRICES FOR newly listed properties have increased by 2% nationally and by 1.4% in Dublin, in the first quarter of the year. 

According to the latest residential property price report from MyHome.ie, the annual asking price inflation is now just 3.3% nationally and 1.1% in Dublin, down from 6% and 3% respectively in the last quarter of 2018. 

This means the median asking price for new sales nationally is €271,000 – up €5,000 from the last quarter, while the price in Dublin is €380,000 – also up €5,000. Newly listed properties are seen as the most reliable indicator of future price movements. 

The report was published in association with Davy.

The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, chief economist at Davy, said the slowdown of price inflation, which was concentrated in Dublin, was largely due to the Central Bank’s lending rules and unrealistic price expectations rather than uncertainties caused by Brexit. 

“The tightening of the Central Bank of Ireland mortgage lending rules – and the resulting slowdown in price inflation – was always going to be felt first in the capital. It also appears that price expectations in early 2018 were unrealistic and a period of adjustment has taken place as a result,” MacCoille said. 

McCoille said the analysis shows that the slowdown has been concentrated in the most expensive property types and areas. 

For example, the median asking price for four-bedroom detached houses in Dublin is €650,000.

However, prices for one-bedroom apartments are up 10.5% on the year to €210,000 while the price of two-bedroom apartments are up over 8% across Dublin.

Despite the current slowdown, MacCoille still expects Irish house prices nationally to rise by 4% in 2019.

“Whatever about the possibility that Brexit uncertainties have held back prices, there are few signs yet that Brexit is holding back transactional activity,” he said.

“Residential transactions grew by 4% in 2018 to 57,000 and we believe volumes in January and February were also up 4% on the same period last year.”

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The report also noted that there were 21,250 properties listed for sale on MyHome.ie in March, up 13% on last year.
MyHome.ie managing director Angela Keegan said the “improvement has been particularly marked in Dublin”, where 5,200 properties were listed for sale, up 35% on the 3,900 recorded this time last year.

“The increase in stock may very well be contributing to the lower rate of price inflation in the capital,” Keegan said.

According to the report, the average time to sale agreed nationally has risen to 4.8 months and to 3.9 months in Dublin.