Property sales still rising, especially in urban areas

The number of property sales in Ireland is continuing to increase, with urban centres in Dublin, Cork and Galway dominating.

Almost 60% of all residential property sold in Ireland last year was sold in Leinster. Sales in the province were worth more than €12bn.

A new analysis of the Property Price Register for 2018 by MyHome.ie shows that the number of properties sold last year increased in 16 counties. Urban centres dominate the market, with Dublin accounting for half the sales in Leinster. Some 43% of Munster sales were in Cork, and Galway accounted for 30% of all sales in the Connacht-Ulster region.

There were 18,850 residential property sales in Dublin, accounting for just under one third of the national total.

One quarter of property sales took place in Munster, with 14,178 transactions completed last year. There were 6,039 sales in Cork in 2018, a 2.7% increase on 2017.

In total, there were 56,836 residential properties sold in Ireland last year, a 3.8% increase on 2017.

The value of sales is increasing at a far quicker rate than the number of sales. Last year, the total value of property sold was €16.8bn, a 15% increase on 2017.

Of this, €12.2bn was sold in Leinster, accounting for 73% of the total spend. The total value of transactions in Dublin alone was €8.7bn. Munster saw €3bn worth of sales, €1.63bn of which was in Cork.

MyHome.ie managing director Angela Keegan said the sales figures reflected the greater demand for housing in the east of the country.

“Internationally, we are seeing a move towards increased urbanisation and in Ireland, Dublin is very much the focus point for that. In addition to lifestyle issues, our capital — along with Galway and Cork — has been very successful in attracting foreign investment and higher-paid jobs.

“As a result, these are the cities where people increasingly want to live and if they can’t live there due to the lack of affordable housing or if they want more space, they tend to move to towns in the commuter belt,” she said.

“This is reflected in the increase in the volume of sales in commuter belt counties around Dublin and indeed in most other Leinster counties — they only fell in three — as well as increases in the commuter belts of other cities.”

The market is moving in the right direction but still below where it should be, Ms Keegan added.

“For a market like Ireland’s, with some two million homes, we should be seeing at least 4% of those properties changing hands annually. We’re currently under 60,000 sales nationally and we need to get to circa 80,000 sales a year, but the graph is moving in the right direction.”