Capital sellers dropping prices to attract buyers

The prices of homes in Dublin are being discounted by up to €20,000 in order to attract buyers, a report found today.

Asking prices in central Dublin fell by more than 11% in the first three months of the year, according to the latest report by property website daft.ie.

This latest drop marks the eighth consecutive quarter that prices have fallen.

After Dublin, the biggest decreases were 10.5% and 9.5% in Sligo and Waterford city respectively.

The equivalent drop for Cork city and Limerick city was 5%.

The average national asking price for a home now stands at €281,000, a fall of almost €63,000 from the peak in mid-2007.

Ronan Lyons, economist at daft.ie, said sellers across the country were forced to discount their prices by a further €12,500 on average in the first three months of 2009.

“People selling properties in Dublin cut their prices by over €20,000, indicating that a larger adjustment in property prices is underway in the capital than elsewhere.”

He continued: “While oversupply remains significant, with over 60,000 homes for sale around the country, one encouraging sign is that the stock of property available for sale has fallen about 5% since its peak in October 2008.”

The Daft House Price Report Q1 2009 is based on asking prices for properties posted for sale on daft.ie.

Each month up to 40,000 properties are posted on the website, which claims one million unique users.