THE COST OF buying a new home in Ireland has fallen by 1.2% in the past year, the first year-on-year price drop in seven years, according to a report from property site Daft.ie.
A small number of areas – including Meath and Sligo – have continued to see price inflation but the majority of the country has experienced a decline in the asking price of properties over the past 12 months.
The average price of a listed property on Daft.ie for quarter 4 of 2019 is now €250,766 – 1.2% lower than the same period in 2018.
It also marks a 2.4% fall in prices compared to the previous quarter of this year.
In Dublin, prices fell by 1.2% overall but some parts experienced steeper declines dropping by 4.1% in the South County region and by 2.7% in the city centre. The average price for the Dublin region varies from €298,939 in the west of the county, to €566,776 in southern parts.
Galway city remained unchanged with the average price sitting at €290,000 but as a county overall, the prices have dropped by 1.1% to €195,668.
Prices in Cork city increased by just under 1% but the county average fell by the same amount.
Limerick city property prices increased by 2.9% while the county average fell by more than 3.5%. In Waterford city, property prices increased by 3.3% while the county average went up by 2.4%.
Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the report said the fall in property prices will benefit Ireland’s competitiveness.
“In the first and final quarters of the 2010s, sale prices were falling – but that is where the similarities end,” he said of the changing in Ireland’s property market over the past decade.
“Over the last ten years, the sales segment of Ireland’s housing market has transformed, albeit slowly. As it enters the 2020s, there appears to be relatively good balance between the pipeline of newly built owner-occupied housing and the number of households able to buy that housing.
“Where falling prices represent the ability of developers to build new homes for less, this fall is good for the country’s competitiveness.”
The number of properties available to buy on the market nationwide was just under 22,500 in December, which is down 5% on the same month last year. It marks the fourth consecutive month where the number of properties has fallen.
Journal Media Ltd. has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.
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