House sales up 8.5% in first six months

House sales were up by nearly 8.5% in the first half of the year.

The latest analysis from MyHome.ie shows that over 23,000 houses were sold across the country in the first six months.

If this trend continues there will be over 50,000 properties sold this year, compared to 48,000 last year.

Managing Director of MyHome.ie Angela Keegan has said this is very promising.

“The rise in sales and values in the commuter belt is the standout feature in these figures and indicates that the lack of supply of affordable houses is pushing buyers out of Dublin," she said.

"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%.

“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.

“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%.

Ms Keegan said speculation around the future of the Help to Buy scheme had caused unnecessary uncertainty in the property market.

“This initiative was introduced as a supply side initiative to encourage the construction of affordable homes," she said.

"We are seeing a lot of new developments coming on stream now and that is something which really needs to continue if we are to get to grips with the current housing crisis. ‘Help to Buy’ on its own won’t solve the crisis – we need a coordinated package of measures for that – but abolishing it would be a retrograde step."

Other counties which saw impressive sales growth included Cavan (27%), Offaly (18%), Roscommon (13.5%) and Kerry (12.6%).

Not surprisingly several of these counties also saw significant rises in the value of transactions. For example Cavan was up 37%, Offaly was up 36%, Roscommon was up 27% while Kerry was up 12%.

Several counties in the midlands and border region bucked that trend. For example the number of sales in Laois rose by just 0.7%, but the value of transactions increased by 21%. In Westmeath the figures were 3.1% and 28% while in Monaghan the figures were 1.5% and 22%.

The counties with the lowest number of sales were Longford (177), Monaghan (201), Leitrim (224) and Carlow (247).

The most money was spent in Dublin, over €3bn with the least being spent in Longford, €16m.