The number of properties sold in Mayo in the first seven months this year has jumped by 74 per cent on the number sold in the same period last year, according to a property report compiled for the Mayo Advertiser.
According to the property price register at the end of August, the number of property sales for county Mayo are 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 gives 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 real time selling prices by a few months. However, it is still the only definitive register for actual property sales.
The Mayo Advertiser report on Mayo's property market, taken from the property price register, shows a significant increase in the level of property buying activity in County Mayo, for the first seven months of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
There has been a very significant increase of 74 per cent in the number of properties sold in this period in the county, from 301 properties in the January to July 2013 period compared to 524 properties for the same period 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.
Two hundred and eighteen 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 66 more properties were sold in the first seven months of 2014 than in all of 2011 in Mayo.
This trend of increased volume of sales is clear in most areas of the county.
In Ballina, the total number of properties sold increased from 53 in the January to July 2013 period to 70 for the same period in 2014.
Castlebar has seen an even more dramatic increase from 44 sales to almost 100 in the same period.
The equivalent Westport figures show an increase from 42 sales to 65.
Just over €50m worth of property sales took place in the January to July 2014 period compared to just over €30m for the same period in 2013.
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 Mayo 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 county, and the average figures for 2013 are inflated by some particularly high value sales.
Take the sale of Inishturk Beg Island (and Nolans Farm ) for example, the register shows this property sold for €1m in February 2013. Therefore, this one sale alone added €3k approx to the average price of the 301 properties sold in Mayo in the January to July 2013 period. The average price for a property sold in Mayo in this period was just over €105k. Excluding the sale of Inishturk Beg Island, the average sale price would have been just over €102k.
The average price of a property sold in Mayo for the January to July 2014 period was €103k for the 524 properties sold.
The analysis of property prices by Advertiser.ie is based on the Residential Property Price Register produced by the Property Services Regulatory Authority.
It contains details on the sale of all residential properties in Mayo.
The register provides information on the price, and address of all properties purchased during the period as declared to the Revenue Commissioners.
In the case of new properties, the prices on the register are shown exclusive of Vat at 13.5 per cent.
The register does not contain information on specific details of sold properties which would allow for true like-for-like comparisons such as house size, site size, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, condition of house, if work is required etc.
The register does provide data which can be used to calculate accurate information on the level of activity in the property market, as well as overall trends.
Next week, we look at the property price figures in detail for all of County Mayo.
