Dublin sees slowdown in average asking price for housing

'Outside Dublin, at least some demand has switched to new homes, but in Dublin, sales of both new and second-hand homes fell,' said Ronan Lyons. File Picture: PA

Residential housing price inflation is cooling fastest in Dublin and Leinster, but remains high elsewhere as the softening in price pressures may reflect weaker demand rather than more supply.

The average listed price for housing nationally rose by 3% in the year to September 2026, roughly half the rate of inflation seen a year ago, according to the latest Daft.ie sales report released today. 

Nationally, the average list price across all property types in the third quarter of the year was just under €445,000.

These list prices are now, on average, 44% above their pre-covid levels and 7.5% below their Celtic Tiger peak.

An analysis of transactions registered in the Property Price Register and matched to the Daft.ie database suggests that prices rose by just 0.8% in the year to September, the slowest rate of increase since 2020.

The typical gap between the initial listed price and the ultimate transaction price also narrowed to 2.6% nationally, down from 6.8% a year earlier — the smallest gap since 2023, the report notes.

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The slowdown in housing price inflation is most noticeable in and around Dublin, where list prices in September were 2.7% higher than a year ago.

Elsewhere in Leinster, the rate of increase was 2.1%. The increase in the year to September was just under 6% in Cork, Galway, and Limerick cities, and 11% in Waterford.

Outside of the cities, in Munster and Connacht-Ulster, also saw larger percentage increases.

The softening in price pressures appears to reflect weaker demand rather than stronger supply, noted Ronan Lyons, Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie report.

There were just under 13,800 second-hand homes for sale nationwide at the beginning of September, up 12.5% when compared to a year ago.

Just under 52,700 second-hand homes were listed in the year to August, the same as in each of the previous two years. However, the number of listings leaving the market fell by 3%, meaning homes are staying on the market for longer.

The average list price of a three-bed semi -detached house is now:

• €635,000 in Dublin, up 2.7% year-on-year;
• €431,000 in Cork City, up 5.7% year-on-year;
• €376,000 in Limerick City, up 5.8% year-on-year;
• €313,000 in Waterford City, up 11% year-on-year;
• €618,000 in Galway City, up 5.8% year-on-year.

Mr Lyons said the "clearest message" from the third quarter of 2026 is that house price inflation is easing, which is visible in both list prices and transaction prices.

"A year ago, the typical home ultimately sold for 6.8% more than the initial list price," he stated. "Now, with list prices rising faster than sale prices, that ‘market heat’ measure has fallen to 2.6%.

"Ideally, price pressures would ease because second-hand supply has finally recovered after collapsing during covid. However, for second-hand homes at least, the figures say otherwise."

The flow of homes coming onto the market has been flat for three years, he added.

"What has changed is how quickly those homes sell," he said. "Outside Dublin, at least some demand has switched to new homes, but in Dublin, sales of both new and second-hand homes fell. 

"That is the clearest sign of genuinely softer demand, and a signal to watch in the coming quarters."