HOMES ARE BEING sold for 9% above the asking price displayed on property websites, new figures show.

Meanwhile, first-time buyers are taking on more debt relative to income than UK counterparts for the first time since the Celtic Tiger years.

The MyHome report for the last three months of of 2024 found that annual asking price inflation was 8.4% nationwide.

One in seven homes are settling for a minimum of 20% over the asking price.

Only 17% of residential transactions were settled at a discount to the asking price in November.

Annual asking price inflation in Dublin is now 5.9% and the rate has accelerated to 9.8% in the rest of Ireland, the report finds.

Meanwhile, asking prices nationally rose by 0.4% on the quarter and fell by a marginal 0.1% in Dublin.

Economist Conall Mac Coille of Bank of Ireland says that while buyers are taking on larger mortgages, the figures aren’t comparable to the Celtic Tiger years.

“The average first time buyer was currently borrowing 3.4 times their incomes. In the Celtic Tiger period, that was four-and-half times,” he said on RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland.

“There’s very few mortgages these days that are granted with a loan taking ratio in excess of four times. Very few indeed.”

He added that, while house prices continue to rise, the rate of inflation is on par with wage growth inflation at 5%.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the average price of a second-hand home in Dublin rose by €50,000 in 2024, with further increases predicted for 2025. 

That was according to figures by property advisors DNG, which said house price hikes were not slowing down, after a 9.6% rise in the capital last year.

At a national level (excluding Dublin) there was an 8.4% increase in the average price of a second-hand home – almost double the rate of growth witnessed in 2023 (+4.3%).

The MyHome report forecasts a 4% rise in Irish house prices this year.

It also found that first-time buyers are getting older, with the average age being 36 in the first half of 2024, up from 34 in 2020.

The report found the average time to sale agreed was just three months in Q4, close to a historic low.

There were 6,400 new homes listed for sale in the first nine weeks of Q4 2024, up 8% on the same period of 2023.

Additionally, housing completions in Q3 2024 were up 6% on the year to 8,900 so our forecast for 33,000 completions in 2024 is on track.