New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that residential property prices grew at the fastest annual pace in just over a year in February.
Property prices increased by 6.1% in February compared to growth of 5.4% a month earlier, the CSO said.
Year-on-year price growth had cooled from a recent peak of 15.1% in February 2022 to a near three-year low of 1.1% last August.
But the supply of new housing is still not growing fast enough to meet demand and so home prices have started to rise again.
The CSO said today property prices in Dublin grew by 5.6% in February, while prices outside Dublin were up by 6.5%.
It noted that house prices in Dublin rose by 5.9% in February while apartment prices rose by 4.5%.
The highest house price growth in Dublin was in Dublin City at 7.7%, while Fingal saw a rise of 4.5%.
Outside of Dublin, house prices increased by 6.3% and apartment prices rose by 9.1%.
Today’s CSO figures show that consumers paid a median or mid-point price of €330,000 for a residential property in the 12 months to February.
The lowest median price paid for a home was €165,000 in Leitrim, while the highest was €620,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Meanwhile, the most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to February was A94 “Blackrock” with a median price of €715,025, while F45 “Castlerea” had the least expensive price of €135,000.
The CSO said that Dublin residential property prices are 2.6% lower than their February 2007 peak, while residential property prices in the rest of the country are 9.1% higher than their May 2007 peak.
Today’s figures also show that the purchase of a total of 3,327 homes were filed with Revenue in February, down by 0.7% when compared with the 3,351 purchases the same month last year.
The total value of transactions filed in February was €1.2 billion, the CSO added.
Revenue data shows 1,162 first-time buyer purchases in February, down 0.3% on the 1,166 recorded in February 2023. These purchases were made up of 311 new homes and 851 existing dwellings.
Commenting on today’s CSO figures, Trevor Grant, chairman of the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisers, said that continuing house price growth is keeping many prospective first-time buyers worried about whether or not they will be able to enter the property market this year.
“With housing supply remaining relatively limited and demand high, there’s little to dampen this growth,” Mr Grant said.
He said that consistent growth in regional house prices is beginning to pose challenges, making once-affordable areas less accessible.
“To secure their spot on the property ladder this year, first-time buyers must stay proactive, by ensuring they have the necessary deposit in the wings, preparing all the necessary documentation they will need for a mortgage application and exploring any State house purchase support schemes they may be eligible for,” he advised.
Article Source – Property price growth speeds up to 6.1% in February – CSO – RTE
