Annual house price growth in Cork higher than national average in 2025
New homes at Bayly, a new development by Cairn Homes, just off the Carrigaline Road Picture: Eddie O'Hare
The Irish economy continues to show resilience, despite the broader economic and geopolitical challenges that have been present throughout the year. Following a particularly strong start to 2025, the pace of growth in the economy has slowed as we moved through the year, largely due to significant declines in investment expenditure and goods exports, following the front-loading of exports to the US seen in Q1 in anticipation of new tariffs. That said, the economy is expected to perform strongly overall in 2025.
As has been the case for the last number of years, the Irish residential market remains characterised by supply-side challenges, and ever-increasing demand, leading to robust price inflation. These issues are all evident in the Cork market also. According to the Sherry FitzGerald Price Index, annual price growth in Cork at the end of September 2025 stood at 7.7%, higher than the national average, 7.3%.
Over the first nine months of 2025, approximately 2,602 new dwellings have been completed across Cork city and county. This is an increase of 3.5% when compared to the first nine months of 2024. Though new dwelling output in Cork remains robust, demand for new dwellings in the South-West region far exceeds the level of completions that have been recorded in recent years. According to estimations by Sherry FitzGerald Research, annual average housing demand across Ireland is 56,200 units per annum. Annual average housing demand in the South-West region is 7,290 units per annum out to 2036, with a significant proportion of this required in Cork. In 2024, completions in the South-West region totalled 4,017 units, representing just over half the level of annual demand. Completions this year for the country as a whole are expected to be slightly above last year at around 33,500 units but still falling well below the level required to meet demand.
There were just 1,822 second-hand homes available for sale in Cork in July 2025. This represents a mere 0.8% of the county’s housing stock. Comparing this to five years ago, advertised stock for sale has fallen significantly by 12% across the county.
Turning to transaction activity, there were approximately 2,501 residential transactions made by household buyers in Cork as per stamp duty executions in the first six months of the year. This is a 6.2% increase on the same time period in 2024. This increase has been primarily driven by an increase in the number of new homes sold, increasing from 619 transactions in H1 2024 to 761 transactions in H1 2025. Second-hand transactions remained relatively stable year on year, with just three additional homes sold to reach 1,740 in H1 2025.
An analysis of Sherry FitzGerald Group sales in Cork, in the first nine months of 2025, shows that approximately 79% of purchasers were owner-occupiers, with first-time buyers accounting for 50% of all owner-occupiers. A further 10% of purchasers were buying investment properties, while 23% of vendors were selling investment properties, once again highlighting the exodus of landlords from the market. This disparity between the number of investors entering and exiting the market has been prevalent for the past decade, leaving the rental market in a place of crisis. Throughout the year, the government have announced policy changes which aim to provide stability to the rental market, with new rental rules announced due to come into force in March of 2026.
These changes to the rental market aim to provide more certainty and stability for tenants and landlords alike. Under Budget 2026 the Vat rate on new build apartments has been reduced to 9%, aiming to improve the viability of apartment development and help increase supply.
The housing market continues to grapple with significant challenges as we move into 2026. There has been, however, a clear focus from government this year on tackling the housing crisis. Both Budget 2026 and the recently announced housing plan demonstrate an ambitious effort to expand on previously announced changes for the residential market. With the government’s plans now outlined, it is important that the focus now turns to the delivery of these much-needed homes, in Cork and across the rest of the country.
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