LAST UPDATE | 2 Jan

HOUSING PRICES IN Ireland rose by an average of 9% in 2024, according to a new report from property website Daft.ie. 

The Daft.ie House Price Report released today shows that the typical listed price nationwide in the final quarter of 2024 was €332,109, 1.4% higher than in the third quarter of the year and 30% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The average price for listed homes is now €442,909 in Dublin, €347,263 in Cork city, €284,138 in Limerick city, €389,742 in Galway city and €247,236 in Waterford city.

The average for the rest of the country is €284,163.

“If the goal of policymakers is to ensure stable housing prices, then, this has been the least successful year for policymakers since 2017, when prices rose by roughly the same proportion,” said Ronan Lyons, an economist at Trinity College Dublin, who authored the report. 

Prices rose for the fourth consecutive quarter in Dublin, where the increase of 9% during 2024 matched the national average and marked the highest rate of inflation seen in the city since late 2017, the report said. 

Similarly, Galway city saw a significant increase this year while in Limerick city, prices rose by 8.2%.

Cork and Waterford cities’ average prices rose by 6.3% and outside of the five main cities, price rises ranged from 11.1% in Leinster to 5.3% in Connacht-Ulster.e

Additionally, there were fewer second-hand homes for sale at the end of 2024.

The number was fewer than 10,500 on 1 December this year, down 15% year-on-year and the lowest total ever recorded in a series extending back to January 2007. 

“Unlike earlier in the 2020s, Dublin is now driving price growth, with its rate of inflation ahead of the other cities,” said Ronan Lyons. 

“This is, once again, a story of weak supply and strong demand.” 

“With incomes and employment growing, demand for owner-occupied housing is likely growing at close to 5% per year.”

Lyons noted that the number of newly-built homes being sold is increasing, but “it is growing much more slowly than demand”. 

“The increase in new builds has, in recent quarters, been more than offset by a decline in the volume of second-hand homes coming on to the market,” he added. 

Lyons said that while 2022 saw 63,000 second-hand homes listed for sale, there were just 51,000 put on the market during 2024. That level is similar to what was seen during pandemic lockdowns. 

“The new government may look to intervene in the mortgage market, to improve mobility of those with fixed interest rates. But ultimately, the solution remains boosting the volume of homes being built,” Lyons said. 

 Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.