According to the property price register at the end of August, the number of property sales for both Galway city and county is showing a dramatic increase year on year. The register gives the exact selling price of properties and so is the most accurate record of actual sales that have taken place.
Some property reports use asking prices as their source, others use prices which properties were 'for sale' at; neither of these give accurate information which can be relied on. As the property price register is only completed when sales are finalised, it could be argued that it lags behind real time selling prices by a few months. However, it is still the only definitive register for actual property sales.
In the past year, the figures gathered from the register by the Advertiser show there has been a very significant increase of almost 50 per cent in the number of properties sold in the January to July period in Galway city and county, from 732 properties in 2013 to 1,085 properties in 2014.
This has continued a trend apparent over the last number of years, where the number of properties sold has increased considerably year on year.
Fewer than 450 properties were sold in the same period in 2011, showing a dramatic increase of 140 per cent in the three year period 2011 to 2014.
Indeed 100 more properties were sold in the first seven months of this year than in all of 2011.
This trend of increased sales is clear in most areas of the city and county. Just over €160m worth of property sales took place in the January to July 2014 period compared to just over €114m for the same period in 2013.
Full details of properties sold in Galway city this year can be downloaded here: http://goo.gl/ldw3EX
Galway city can be divided into two distinct categories, those where prices are increasing and those where prices remain stagnant.
When it comes to the actual change in prices, the situation is very dependent on location, and the sale of a small number of properties can distort the average sales figures for a particular area. For example, the price register shows an actual fall in the average price of a property in Galway City when comparing January to July 2014 vs the same period in 2013. However, on closer examination it is clear that prices are rising in most parts of the city, and the average figures for 2013 are inflated by some particularly high value sales.
For more details and analysis by auctioneers, see http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/72113/50-per-cent-increase-in-number-of-properties-sold-in-galway .
