Property Insights by Johnny Gannon
The latest Central Statistics Office figures, published this month, put the median price paid for a home in Ireland at €395,000, with national price growth holding steady at 6.2% in the year to May. Behind that headline sit several patterns with direct relevance for anyone buying or selling in Galway, and they are worth examining properly.
The most significant is the continued widening of the regional divide. Dublin price inflation eased to 4.7% in May, down from 5.5% the previous month, while prices outside the capital accelerated to 7.3%. This is not a one-month quirk. It is the continuation of a trend this column has tracked for some time: the strongest price momentum in the country has moved decisively beyond Dublin, into the regions, and the west is firmly part of that story. Apartment prices outside Dublin rose 9.7%, well ahead of houses at 7.1%, reflecting intense competition for smaller, more affordable homes.
Why is this happening? Affordability is the engine. With Dublin's median price now at €500,000, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at €689,325, buyers on ordinary incomes are mathematically excluded from much of the capital under Central Bank lending rules. Remote and hybrid working has converted that exclusion into regional demand. The Midlands recorded the strongest house price growth in the country at 13.2%, followed by the Border at 11.8%, precisely the regions where value remains. Money flows to where it can still buy a home.
Galway sits in an interesting position within this pattern. Our prices are well above Midlands and Border levels, but meaningfully below Dublin, and the city offers something those regions cannot: a genuine employment base in medical technology, pharmaceuticals and third-level education. Galway attracts both the affordability-driven buyer priced out of Dublin and the lifestyle-driven buyer choosing the west on its merits. That dual demand is why competition for well-presented homes across the city and county remains so consistent.
The transaction data tells its own story. First-time buyer purchases nationally rose 17.4% in May year on year, and over the past twelve months first-time buyers accounted for 40.1% of all household purchases, more than 20,500 transactions. This is the most active first-time buyer market in years, supported by Help to Buy, the First Home Scheme, and mortgage rates that have settled around 3.5%. New homes are gaining market share too, up 18.6% in May, though existing homes still account for 72% of all purchases, a reminder that the second-hand market remains where most of the action is, and where supply remains tightest.
For Galway sellers, the implications are encouraging, but come with a caveat. Regional price growth of 7.3% and a deep pool of active, mortgage-approved buyers support values, particularly for family homes in established areas and anything well-presented within first-time buyer reach. The caveat is the one that always applies: today's buyers are informed, they can see every comparable sale on the price register, and overpricing remains the most reliable way to undermine a sale. Strong markets reward realistic pricing with competitive bidding. They do not rescue optimistic pricing.
For buyers, the message is more sobering. The figures offer no suggestion that waiting will make Galway cheaper. Prices outside Dublin are accelerating, not cooling, and the structural shortage of homes for sale persists. Preparation, mortgage approval in place, decisiveness when the right property appears, remains the only reliable strategy.
The median Irish home now costs €395,000. The median Galway story is that the west's value, employment and quality of life are no longer a secret, and the market reflects it.
Johnny Gannon is the founder of Fair Deal Property Auctioneers and Estate Agents. For advice on buying and selling, call 091 394593 or visit www.fairdealproperty.ie
