More than 600 homes sold for over €1m this year, despite Covid-19 impact

Dalkey remains one of the country's most expensive areas, with property prices averaging more than €750,000. Pictured is Queens in Dalkey, closed during the Covid pandemic. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

House prices grew by around 3.5% this year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, with 638 properties selling for more than €1m, according to the latest property wealth report by Daft.ie.

The value of all residential property in Ireland now stands at over €536bn, up by €18bn since last year, and representing a rise in values of €50m per day.

The Daft.ie report shows that properties continued to be bought and sold across the country and that prices rose despite the economic shock dealt by the pandemic.

The increase in property values stemmed from rising values of existing properties rather than new builds, Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of report, said.

“That increase of almost €50m per day was driven not by the completion of €6bn of new homes, which was affected by the pandemic, but instead by higher values of existing homes,” Mr Lyons said.

“If you had surveyed 100 economists at the start of the year, when there was only the first inklings of the potential impact of Covid-19, I doubt whether any – in all honesty – would have predicted that such an economic shock would have caused property prices to rise, not fall, but yet that is what happened," he added.

The report shows that Ireland's most expensive street was Temple Gardens in Rathmines in Dublin, which had three properties trade for more than €2m, with an average price tag of €3.1m.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the most expensive streets in Ireland were located in the capital.

There are close to 2,000 property millionaires in Ireland, with the highest concentration in Dublin – 643 in Dalkey, 305 in Ranelagh and 235 in Ballsbridge.

Asking prices were most expensive in Dublin where properties in Mount Merrion, Dalkey, and Sandycove are commanding upwards of €750,000 – almost three times the average asking price nationally (€264,000).

Despite the concentration of wealth in Dublin, the most expensive property listed for sale this year was Abbey Leix Estate in Abbeyleix, Co Laois, which had an asking price of €20m for the 1,000 acre estate. The 18th century mansion comes with a huge amount of woodland and a storied history - it has been home to French Monks, O’More Princes, Ormonde Earls, de Vesci Viscounts, and a Welsh Knight.

On the other end of the market, Leitrim had the lowest house prices while parts of Donegal and Roscommon had average property prices below €100,000. In Bundoran, Co Donegal, prices continued to average €91,000, while prices averaged at €96,000 in Castlerea in Roscommon.

In Munster, properties in Kinsale in Cork were the most expensive, with the average house valued at €364,000, followed by Adare and Patrickswell in Limerick at €321,000.

In Cork city, house prices averaged €291,000 and the Montenotte and Tivoli area and Rochestown were among the most expensive places to buy.

Properties outside of Cork city, averaged €229,000 with the most expensive averages in areas such as Crosshaven (€299,000), Blarney/Tower (€289,000) and Durus/Mizen (€288,000).

In Connacht-Ulster, Kinvara in Galway took the lead on property values with average prices above €300,000.

Property prices in Cork city and county have fallen since 2009, the Daft.ie report shows, while prices have risen in Westmeath, Laois and Kilkenny over the past decade.