Market rents in County Westmeath were on average 1% higher in the final quarter of 2023 than a year previously, compared to a rise of 7% seen a year ago, the latest quarterly Daft.ie rental report has revealed.
The average price of purchasing a home in the county is now €265,000, 10% below its Celtic Tiger peak.
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Nationally, housing prices during 2023 rose by an average of 3.4%, the smallest increase since 2019.
The typical listed price nationwide in the final three months of the year was €320,046, 1.5% lower than in the third quarter and roughly 14% below the Celtic Tiger peak.
There remain significant differences in price trends across the country. Prices in Dublin rose by an average of 2% during 2023, while in the rest of Leinster, the increase was 0.8%. Cork City saw prices rise by 3.7% during the year, while Galway city saw an increase of 4.1%.
Increases in Waterford and Limerick cities were larger, though, at 6.1% and 9% respectively. Outside the cities, prices were 6.8% higher in Munster and 8.3% higher in Connacht-Ulster in the final quarter of 2023 than a year previously.The number of homes available to buy nationwide on December 1 stood at just over 11,100.
This is down 27% year-on-year and is the lowest since March 2022. It is also less than half the 2019 average of 24,200. The fall in availability, which started in the middle of the year, can be seen in all major regions of the country, although it’s proportionately largest in Dublin (down 33% year-on-year ).
“Having increased dramatically in the second half of 2022, the availability of homes fell throughout 2023. The number of homes on the market is now at levels only previously seen during the pandemic. With price inflation easing off even as the number of listings is down over 10%, this suggests that the dramatic change in market conditions over the past 18 months is taking its toll.
"Looking ahead to 2024, the question will be about the performance of the second-hand market. The construction of new homes has improved dramatically over the past five years and looks set to continue into 2024 and potentially 2025. However, the second-hand market remains critical to the overall health of the housing system. If uncertainty continues to fade, and potentially interest rates start to fall again, it may be the case that 2024 sees the second-hand market recover. This would likely mean a healthier housing market than for some time, with transactions up but prices largely stable," Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said.
