Average house prices soared by over €100,000 in five years, says CSO

The Residential Property Price Index for December 2024 from the Central Statistics Office.

The average price of a home in Ireland surged by more than €100,000 in the last five years, new figures have revealed, as scrutiny falls on the Government over its future housing plans.

According to data from the Central Statistics Office, the average sale price of all homes in Ireland filed with Revenue in December was €420,656 compared to €296,877 in December 2019.

Its Property Price Register shows that residential prices in Ireland increased by 8.7% in 2024, with prices outside Dublin rising by 9%.

Compared to the Celtic Tiger peak, prices are now 16.8% higher while they are over 2.5 times higher than their trough in early 2013.

CSO statistician Niall Corkery said: “Households paid a median or mid-point price of €355,000 for a residential property in the 12 months to December 2024. The lowest median price paid for a dwelling was €182,250 in Longford, while the highest was €660,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.” 

The median price of €355,000 in 2024 compares to €259,000 in 2019 and €155,000 in 2013. The median refers to the middle figure in a row of numbers sorted from top to bottom, as opposed to the average.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

While a total of 48,775 properties changed hands in 2024, this was a 2.9% decrease compared with the 50,234 purchases made in 2023. In 2024, just over a third (36.1%) of buyers were first-time buyers with 11.1% of properties sold to non-occupiers such as charities and funds.

While the price of new homes surged with almost double-digit inflation in 2023, the rate of increase slowed last year with new homes up 5.2% in the last quarter of 2024.  The cost of second-hand homes rose at a much faster pace, up 10.5% in the last quarter of 2024.

Government housing policy

The figures from the CSO come as the Government looks to significantly change housing policy with a range of proposals being examined, including planning exemptions for those who build log cabins or modular homes in family back gardens.

It also comes after heavy criticism of housing delivery last year, with just 30,000 new homes built despite the Government touting a figure closer to 40,000 prior to the general election.

Tánaiste Simon Harris told his parliamentary party earlier this week that the Government needed to be “deadly serious” about the delivery of homes and “treat it as an emergency”. 

His comments came after Cabinet agreed for a further €450m in capital funding to be spent on social and affordable housing in 2025. 

Interest rates

However, with an ECB interest rate cut mooted for March, analysts said this could drive further inflation in the market as it could boost borrowing power.

“The real issue remains supply — without a significant increase in new housing, lower borrowing costs will likely push prices higher in the short term,” said Gerry Griffin, senior mortgage advisor with NFP Ireland.

“For buyers, the key will be to assess affordability carefully. Even with lower interest rates, repayments will still be substantial given the high price levels. 

"For policymakers, the focus must remain on delivering more housing at a faster pace to balance the market and prevent additional pressure on prices.”