A RISE IN SALES and values in the commuter belt indicates the lack of supply in affordable homes in the capital is pushing buyers out of Dublin, according to Angela Keegan, managing director of MyHome.ie.
A new study based on an analysis of the Property Price Register shows the number of house sales has increased by 8.4% in the first half of 2017.
The MyHome.ie study shows that there were 23,148 sales nationally in the first half of the year. The value of those transactions also increased by 15% – €5.1 billion to €5.8 billion.
However, Keegan said the standout feature of the survey shows that more people are moving outside of Dublin.
“We can see that the number of sales in Meath is up 43% while the value of transactions is up 47%. In Wicklow sales are up 21% while values are up 25%,” she said.
“The downside of this trend and something which has been highlighted in recent reports is the increase in commuting times for people working in Dublin,” added Keegan.
The impact of rising prices is also evident even in counties which recorded small increases in the number of sales.
For example the number of sales fell in Galway by 1.4% but the value of those transactions was up 9%. Similarly in Limerick the number of sales was down marginally – 0.1% – but the value of those transactions was up 16.7%.
In Dublin, sales are up 11%, with the value of transactions up 13.2%.
In the first six months of the year, there were 7,455 sales in Dublin– an increase of 11% on the 6,717 sales recorded for the same period last year.
The amount of money spent in the capital grew from €2.7 billion to over €3 billion.
The capital was followed by Cork (2,532), Kildare (1,212) and Galway (1,138), with Meath (970) and Limerick (834) also making the top six.
While sales figures rose in 20 counties and fell in six, the amount of money spent on property was up in all counties, with the exception of Clare and Donegal.
The amount of money spent in those counties fell back by 19% and 7% respectively.
The fall in sales in Galway, Limerick and Waterford are described as “marginal” but there was a sizeable fall in Longford (19%), Sligo (17.2%) and Donegal (14.5%).
While reports over the weekend indicate the government is now reluctant to scrap the Help to Buy Scheme, Keegan said speculation around the future of the scheme had caused unnecessary uncertainty in the property market.
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