The price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Westmeath is predicted to increase by 3pc in 2024, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance.
Three-bed semi-detached homes in the county now cost an average of €285,000, up 10 percent on the December 2022 average of €260,000, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.
County agents reported that first time buyers made up 60 percent of the market in the last quarter of the year, with 35 percent of sales coming from outside the county, and five percent of sales attributed to landlords selling properties.
“We are seeing a continuation of a market with strong demand and a shortage of supply,” Donna Hynes of REA Hynes, said.
The REA Average House Price Index concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland's typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.
Three-bed semi prices nationally will rise by three percnt in 2024, estate agents across the country are predicting.
A record shortage of supply has driven a 1.5 percent rise in the last three months in the capital, but only in houses under a certain price, the index found.
House prices in Dublin and the other cities outpaced Ireland’s large towns and commuter counties as mortgage approved buyers chase properties within their price ceiling.
The actual selling price of a three-bed, semi-detached house across the country rose by 1pc in the final quarter of 2023 to €304,259 – representing an annual increase of 4.3pc.
Time taken to reach sale agreed nationally is steady at five weeks as low supply continues to drive sales in an increasing interest rate environment.
Prices in Dublin city rose by 1.5 percent in the last three months, meaning that the average three-bed semi in the capital is now selling at €511,667 – an increase of three percent in the last year.
Mortgage-approved first-time buyers are still the main market drivers, with 59 percent of sales nationally – a figure that rises dramatically to over 80 percent in commuter counties as they hunt suitably priced properties.
Cities outside Dublin experienced a 1.73 percent rise in the past three months to an average selling price of €323,000 – with the annual rate of increase of 4.5 percent.
Homes in the commuter belt showed the most stability in 2023, rising by just 2.2 percent to €319,722, with counties within travelling distance of the capital recording growth of just 0.2 percent in the past three months.
The biggest annual rise came in large towns nationwide, which rose by 6.6pc annually and 1.2pc in the quarter to €223,638.
