Over the past year, we’ve seen a jump in the Irish real estate market. In Ireland, the 2021 residential home prices saw an average increase of 9.7% with the national average sale price jumping to €290,998. In the final three months of the year, prices were up 7.7% YoY. The high demand for housing and the lack of supply in the Covid world we are currently living in is driving home prices through the roof. Although the property supply was higher in 2021 compared to 2020, it is still below pre-pandemic levels. MyHome.ie, a popular property listing website, has never seen the number of listings so low. According to their latest quarterly report, there was a record low of 11,300 homes listed on the website. Combining record-high demand with record-low supply, we can now expect to see a continued dysfunctional housing market for some time.
According to a report from Daft.ie, purchasing a home in the city is trending downwards. We saw the smallest increases in home prices in large cities, with the smallest increase being in Galway City. The average price for a Galway home was €322,543, only up 1.6% from the previous year. In Dublin, we saw a 3.4% increase, with the average home costing €405,259. On the other hand, house prices in suburban areas rose by an average of 12.5% in 2021. After the onset of Covid-19, housing demand shifted. A prime example of this is that in smaller commuter counties, transactions on new homes rose 36%, while in Dublin City, they fell 18%. This trend may be due to Covid restrictions making urban areas less desirable, combined with the expensive cost of living in these urban areas. This reshuffling of preferences is just one of many changes we’ve seen in the new Covid world we are living in.
The pandemic restrictions and lockdowns are limiting construction progress, contributing to the lack of housing supply. With Covid restrictions being lifted earlier this year we may expect to see more housing developments come to fruition. With that being said, prospective homeowners may want to purchase that new dream home as soon as possible. Digital mortgage application tools like Online Application can help make their dreams a reality faster, as they can speed up the process exponentially. By working with brokers to significantly improve the mortgage process workflow, we can help prospective home buyers capitalise quickly on their opportunities in the competitive housing market.
What trends do you see coming for the Irish real estate market in the coming year?
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- References:
https://www.thejournal.ie/myhome-ie-report-house-prices-2022-5644942-Jan2022/U
https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/1229/1268970-property-prices/