Skip to main content

Irish House Price Drops Continue...

Sales activity continued to increase relative to last April and while this is certainly an encouraging sign, it is not at the same pace as experienced during the first four months of the year.

This survey is the most up to date and comprehensive indication of the state of the market, with sales estimates for each type of property ranging from new one bedroom apartments up to second-hand five bedroom detached houses.

At a national level the survey reveals that 55pc of agents reported an increase in sales activity since April, while 20pc reported a decrease — this compares to the results recorded in last April's survey that showed 71pc of agents recording an increase in sales activity since the beginning of the year versus 11pc recording a decrease.

This trend of a more moderate pace of activity compared to four months earlier is evident across all regions in the country.

Most sales activity is taking place in and around the bigger urban centres and is confined, mainly, to first-time buyers.

The survey finds signs that owner-occupiers are also beginning to move in some areas, in response to sales to first-time buyers. Activity is strongest in the South East, with 67pc of estate agents reporting an increase in sales activity versus 5pc reporting a decrease.

In Dublin, 63pc indicated an increase, while 9pc reported a decrease and in the Mid West 67pc reported an increase versus 23pc a decrease. In contrast, the survey suggested that sales activity had decreased over the last four months in the Border Region, where 28pc indicated an increase versus 40pc a decrease.

House prices nationwide continued to fall over last four months. The average price of a new home fell by a further 9pc and the average price of a second- hand home is down 8pc between April and the end of August.

Since the market peak in 2006, prices have declined 43pc for new homes and 44pc for second hand homes.

Across all of Dublin, prices fell by 5pc on average for new homes and 7pc for second-hand homes since last April bringing the decline from peak to 45pc and 47pc respectively. Prices are more resilient in the Mid West, where new home prices remained unchanged over the four months and second hand prices fell by 4pc, resulting in a drop from peak of 33pc and 32pc respectively.

The biggest adjustments in prices over the last four months occurred in the West where new homes fell by 14pc on average and the Mid East where second- hand prices fell by 13pc.

Figures for some types of property in some locations are higher in the August survey than they were last April. In such cases these latest August levels reflect how prices are stabilising and on this basis it is not unusual to see fluctuations of plus or minus 5pc during the months between surveys.

Readers should be careful against extrapolating that the higher price levels reflect a trend indicating a return to price growth.

Instead such changes are attributable to a re-adjustment of the data due to both increased activity and greater response rates in some areas since the April survey.



Report by Yvonne Hogan - Irish Independent

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland's Celtic Tiger Excesses...

'Bang twins' may never get to run a business again... POST-boom Ireland is awash with cautionary tales of Celtic Tiger excesses, as a rattle around the carcasses of fallen property developers and entrepreneurs will show. Few can compete with the so-called Bang twins for youth, glamour and tasteful extravagance. Simon and Christian Stokes, the 35-year-old identical twins behind Bang Cafe and exclusive private members club, Residence, saw their entire business go bust with debts of €9m, €3m of which is owed to the tax man. The debt may be in the ha'penny place compared with the eye-watering billions owed by some of their former customers. But their fall has been arguably steeper and more damning than some of the country's richest tycoons. Last week, further humiliation was heaped on them with revelations that even as their businesses were going under, the twins spent €146,000 of company money in 18 months on designer shopping sprees, five star holidays and sumptu

Property Tycoon's Dolce Vita Ends...

Tycoon's dolce vita ends as art seized... THE Dublin city sheriff has seized an art collection and other valuables from the Ailesbury Road home of fallen property developer Bernard McNamara. The collection will be sold to help pay his debts. The sheriff, Brendan Walsh, is believed to have moved against the property developer within the past fortnight, calling to his salubrious Dublin 4 home acting on a court order to seize anything of value from his home to reimburse his creditors. The sheriff is believed to have taken paintings from the family home along with a small number of other items. The development marks a new low for Mr McNamara, once one of Ireland's richest men but who now owes €1.5bn . The property developer and former county councillor from Clare turned the building firm founded by his father Michael into one of the biggest in Ireland. He is the highest-profile former tycoon to date to be targeted by bailiffs, signalling just how far some of Ireland's billionai

I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an