House prices have not yet bottomed out in Westmeath, in spite of signs of recovery in the housing market in other parts of the country.
According to the latest House Price Report from property website Daft.ie, the average asking price for a home in Westmeath now stands at €129,124, falling by 6.6 per cent since this time last year.
However the rate of the decline in house prices is slowing down, having fallen by some 9.4 per cent the previous year.
The average asking price for a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Westmeath is now €87,000, a drop of 6.3 per cent over the past year. A four-bedroom bungalow has dropped just 2.3 per cent to €181,000, whereas a five-bedroom detached house has dropped 2.4 per cent to €228,000.
The sharpest drops in price were a drop of 7.4 per cent to €48,000 for a one-bed apartment, and a drop of 7.7 per cent to €63,000 for a two-bed terraced house.
House prices also continue to fall across the Midlands, with average house prices now standing at €110,277 in Longford, down by 3.8 per cent; €122,941 in Offaly, down 4.8 per cent; €85,900 in Laois, down 16.2 per cent; and €90,110 in Roscommon, down 11.7 per cent on the previous year.
The Daft.ie House Price Report for 2013 confirmed the “ongoing trend of a two-tier housing market”, with house prices across Dublin now showing strong increases, while outside Dublin they continue to fall, albeit at a slower rate.
“Since late 2011, the rate of change in Dublin asking prices has gone from -22 per cent to +11 per cent, with all six regions in the Dublin market now showing strong increases in asking prices in year on year terms,” according to economist with Daft, Ronan Lyons.
“Outside Dublin, the rate of change in asking prices has fallen from the -16 per cent registered in late 2011, but prices are still falling, with an average fall of -6 per cent during 2013.”
