The decline in prices of four bedroom houses in Mayo has stabilised with the latest survey from property website MyHome.ie showing that asking prices for four bedroom houses in the first quarter of 2013 were unchanged at €149,998. This median asking price, however, is still almost 12 per cent lower than a year ago, the MyHome.ie survey reveals.
But asking prices for smaller houses in the county continue to fall, with the survey showing that the median asking price of a three bedroom house fell more than six per cent to €130,500. This means that prices for three bedroom houses in Mayo are now almost 41 per cent off their peak.
The rate of decline in property prices nationally has continued to moderate with prices falling by 1.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2013. This compares with a fall of three per cent in the previous quarter.
Immediate issues impacting the market include the increasing demands on disposable incomes – the property tax for example - and access to mortgage finance. Progress on addressing the mortgage arrears challenge over the coming months may lead to an increase in the number of properties coming to the market which may depress property prices further in the short term. This development together with a difficult budget later in the year would suggest property prices are likely to remain volatile through 2013,” said Annette Hughes from DKM economic consultants and author of the report.
Angela Keegan, managing director of MyHome.ie, said that while improved affordability was welcome for consumers, access to mortgage finance while improving remains an issue.
However according to a separate report by Daft.ie house prices in Mayo in early 2013 were 17 per cent lower than a year previously, compared to a fall of 15 per cent seen in the year to March 2012. The average house price is now €126,000 in the county which is 52 per cent below peak levels. Speaking on the report on the report, economist with Daft.ie Ronan Lyons said: “The latest figures show that the gap between prices in Dublin and those elsewhere is growing and growing quite rapidly. A year ago, a four-bedroom detached home in South County Dublin was 2.6 times the prices of the same property in Mayo but that ratio has since risen to 3.5, well above levels seen at the bubble.”
Lyons went on to say that the expanding gap in prices between different regions had a number of reasons. “On its own, the growing differential between Dublin and elsewhere signifies that first-time buyers are no longer prepared to sprawl and pay the costs of long commutes. But with prices actually rising again and only in certain parts of the country, this has even greater implications for the Government, as it suggests that there are not enough properties in areas close to jobs and other amenities that first-time buyers are looking for.”
