Housing stock rises while rate of growth halves - Daft

The National Inventory of Irish Housing reports a 12.5% rise in the number of second-hand properties for sale across the country, reaching 13,800 listings as of early October. However, the rate of increase in asking prices for these homes has slowed significantly, dropping from 5.8% last year to just 3% in Q3 of this year according to a new Daft study. In July-September, major cities outside Dublin saw modest growth in asking prices, with Waterford up 11%, Cork/Galway/Limerick/Galway up 6%, and Dublin itself at +2.7%.

The average asking price for a residential property nationwide in the July-September quarter stood at €445,000. While list prices on Daft are 44% above pre-pandemic levels, they remain 7.5% below the peak reached during the Celtic Tiger boom. Selling prices, however, increased by only 0.8% annually in September, marking the slowest rate of growth since 2020. The typical spread between initial listing prices and eventual transaction prices narrowed to 2.6% nationally, the smallest gap since 2023.

Commenting on the data, TCD Economics Professor Ronan Lyons noted that while the supply of second-hand homes has finally recovered post-pandemic, the lack of growth in listings suggests demand remains weak. In Dublin, both new and second-hand home sales have declined, indicating genuine softening in demand. This shift suggests demand is moving from second-hand to new homes in the capital, but the overall market remains subdued.