House prices rose by more than 7% over last year

The price paid for new homes nationally has increased by 8.4%.

House price inflation is continuing to surge, with the cost of a property rising 7.3% in the year to March 2024.

The median price of a home purchased in Ireland in the last year stands at €333,000, with the cost of purchasing in Dublin rising sharply in recent months after plateauing in 2023.

In September 2023, the Central Statistics Office’s Property Price Index showed a rise of just 1.4% in property prices in the previous 12 months. Since then, inflation has surged and is now at its highest level since December 2022.

This is despite the Government hailing increased supply of homes and a record number of new home commencements in the first quarter of 2024. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has singled out the development levy waiver and Irish Water rebate as helping to “fast track much of this activity”.

In a memo brought to Cabinet this week, Mr O’Brien briefed his colleagues on what has been described as “extraordinary” figures for April on construction commencements. The 18,000 units which got under way in April equates to over half of last year’s total commencements in a single month.

A marked feature of the recent inflation in house prices is the rising cost of second-hand dwellings. In the third quarter of 2023, the price paid for existing homes fell by 0.9%. In the first quarter of 2024, however, they rose 5.7%.

A similar situation is playing out in Dublin. Prices had been falling in Dublin last year, dropping by 1.8% in the year to August 2023. This has now shifted with the price of purchasing a home in the capital up 7.2% in the last 12 months.

The price paid for new homes nationally, meanwhile, has increased by 8.4%.

According to the data, homes within Cork County Council went for a median price of €335,000 in the last 12 months compared to €291,000 within Cork City Council.

CSO statistician Niall Corker said: “The lowest median price paid for a dwelling was €168,000 in Leitrim, while the highest was €620,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

“The most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to March 2024 was A94 'Blackrock' with a median price of €720,000, while F45 'Castlerea' had the least expensive price of €135,000.” 

In Cork, the most expensive Eircode to buy was in P17 Kinsale at a median price of €455,000.

In the year to March, 35% of the homes bought in Ireland were purchased by first-time buyers, with 53.1% bought by second-hand buyers and a further 11.9% by non-occupiers such as investment funds or housing agencies.

Revenue data showed that there were 1,170 first-time buyer purchases in March of this year, a drop of 15.6% on the same month in 2023.

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Social Democrat housing spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan said the figures within the CSO’s latest Property Price Index reflect poorly on the Government.

“The median price of a home is now €333,000, rising to a staggering €446,000 in Dublin,” he said. “None of this will come as any surprise to those looking to buy their first home who are only too aware of the Government’s failure to get to grips with the housing crisis.” 

Defending the Government’s housing record in the Dáil earlier this week, Taoiseach Simon Harris said significant progress was being made for many homeowners and that housing targets for the years ahead will be revised upwards later this year.