Irish Examiner view: Alarm bells as house prices continue to rise

House prices rose at an annual rate of 6.9% in June while rents jumped by 5.6%, with especially big rises outside Dublin

According to Irish Institutional Property, because of Ireland’s changing demographics, the State will need to build 50,000 homes a year for the next 30 years. File picture:  Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

Managing markets to sustain some sort of equilibrium is a political and philosophical challenge most governments try to avoid until they must intervene to avert looming chaos. 

That Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, has just reported first-half profits of €2.7bn, far in excess of anything made over the previous decade, suggests such a moment may be at hand.

That Irish house prices rose at an annual rate of 6.9% in June, the steepest in two-and-a-half years, is another indicator of the challenge at hand.

That rents jumped by 5.6%, with especially big rises outside Dublin, adds to the argument. That the supply of properties to rent has hit a record low of just 2,455 bolsters it.

According to Irish Institutional Property, because of Ireland’s changing demographics, the State will need to build 50,000 homes a year for the next 30 years. That adds grist to that mill.

The old adage that you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs seems pertinent.