House prices are up 37% on pre-covid levels

Mayo house prices have increased again.

House prices are now 37% higher than pre-covid levels after another 3% increase in the last three months.

The average price of a home has now reached €344,848, according to the latest report from the property website, Daft.ie.

Adding to the problem, the supply of homes on the market has fallen for the 15th straight month, with the number of secondhand homes listed for sale dropping to 11,900.

House prices are surging significantly in Dublin, with prices rising by 4.1% in just three months between June and September.

Prices rise in Dublin, Limerick and Cork

According to Daft’s analysis, this is the largest three-month increase in the capital since early 2017.

It also means inflation in Dublin house prices is now higher than other cities for the first time since 2020.

Prices in Limerick are still rising sharply, with a 9.7% average increase in the last year.

In Cork City, where the average listed price is €354,000 for a home, prices have risen by 3.8% in 12 months.

The 11,900 secondhand homes available to buy in September is a new low for this time of year, surpassing the previous low of 12,900 homes in September 2021, following the end of a covid lockdown.

The fall in availability reflects a dip in the number of secondhand homes coming to the market over the last year, with just over 51,000 homes up for sale in the 12 months to September, compared to almost 57,000 a year ago.

Budget 2025 provisions

These figures come as the Government is expected to outline significant funding to deliver more homes in Tuesday's budget, as house-building targets, long considered to be too low to meet demand, are set to be revised upwards.

Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons, who wrote the Daft report, said the secondhand market has “suffered” as interest rates rose, and homeowners locked in lower rates.

He said the country needs to build almost double the number of homes as last year.  

"This is the context for the significant increase in Dublin prices seen in the middle of 2024,” he said.

Unfortunately for policymakers, and the wider public too, of course, ‘fixing’ housing supply takes time and policymakers have little control over the rate at which the owners of existing homes will come back into the market.

“But the true number of homes needed each year, if the housing deficit is to be addressed as well as new needs, is close to twice what was built last year.

“Ensuring housing supply is responsive to underlying requirements will very likely be the dominant issue for the next government as it has been for this one.”