The price of the average three-bed semi in Westmeath has risen 5.3 per cent to €160,000 in the last three months, according to a national survey carried out by Real Estate Alliance.
The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an up-to-date picture of the property market in towns and cities countrywide for the first three months of the year.
“The market is very active with a large increase in both price and stock coming to the market,” says Healy Hynes of REA Hynes, Athlone. “There has been a recovery in bank lending, which has been reflected in the purchasing end, but the accelerated figures in the Dublin market particularly, show that we are moving into a vendors marketplace.
“However, we need to look at these figures in relation to the market where stock levels are at their lowest nationwide since January 2007. At a current average price of €136,194, and an annual compound rise of 12.9 per cent, it will be 2021 at the earliest before it becomes economic to build outside the cities.”
Overall, the average house price across the country has risen by 10.9 per cent during the past 12 months, a marked increase on the 7.7 per cent rise registered to the end of December, 2016.
The easing of the Central Bank restriction on lending for first-time buyers has had an immediate effect on the market with a large rise in numbers at viewings and potential buyers with mortgage financing.
The biggest percentage increases over the past year came in the country’s smaller rural towns situated outside of Dublin, the commuter belt and the major cities. Prices here rose by an average of 12.9 per cent during the year, with a three-bed semi now costing €136,194 – an increase of three per cent in the past three months.
Ireland’s major cities outside the capital experienced a 2.3 per cent rise in the first quarter and 7.7 per cent on the year, with the average semi now costing €305,000 in Cork, €132,000 in Galway, and €178,000 in Limerick.
