Reports confirm Dublin property price increases

TWO new reports published earlier this month have confirmed that the price of Dublin homes is continuing to increase.

The average asking price for properties in Dublin has risen by 15 per cent over the past year according to the House Price Report released by property website Daft.ie.

And the latest survey by MyHome.ie shows asking prices in the capital up by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year. It’s the fourth quarter in a row that MyHome.ie has recorded an increase in Dublin, putting mix adjusted average asking prices in the capital at e244,000.

Daft.ie says all areas of Dublin have experienced annual increases with North County Dublin witnessing the lowest increase at nine per cent and South County Dublin the highest at 19 per cent.

Daft.ie puts the current average asking price in Dublin at e265,000, compared to a national average of e177,000 and says the annual rate of change in Dublin transaction prices stood at 20 per cent in early 2014, the second successive quarter such a high rate was recorded.

When it comes to sentiment, Daft.ie says the number of buyers who believe house prices represent good value has fallen dramatically in Dublin, from 42 per cent in late 2013 to just 28 per cent in March 2014.

Average asking prices across the Northside for a three bedroom semi-detached home range from e191,000 in West Dublin to e259,000 in North Dublin City.

The most expensive asking prices are in South Dublin and Dublin City Centre where there’s an average asking price of e294,000 for a three bedroom semi-d.

The Daft.ie report found that asking prices rose more sharply in Dublin in early 2014 than at any point since mid-2006, with increases of up to seven per cent in three months.

Values are now between 15 per cent and 20 per cent higher than two years ago in most parts of Dublin – and almost 30 per cent higher in South County Dublin.

The stock of properties for sale in the capital was below 2,300 in March, the lowest since the start of the Daft.ie reports in 2007. Half of all properties listed in the capital find a buyer within two months, up from roughly one third, a year ago.

Economist with Daft.ie, Ronan Lyons said:

“While those based in the capital will understandably focus on rising inflation in property prices, perhaps the more significant development is elsewhere.

“For the first time since 2007, the average asking price outside Dublin rose on a quarterly basis. This may the first indications that a better match is being found between demand – which will be boosted by the fall in unemployment – and supply – which has eased back considerably in the last two years.

“In general, expected changes in house prices seem grounded but any further increases in expectations, particularly in Dublin, may be a cause for concern.

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Meanwhile MyHome.ie says the annual percentage change in asking prices is up almost four per cent, while the national figure is down almost five per cent.

Author of the MyHome.ie report, Caroline Kelleher from DKM Economic Consultants, said the latest figures show significant volatility in asking prices across the country and across property types.

“Despite this volatility the figures show the recovery in Dublin continues to gather momentum while it has yet to become firmly established elsewhere.

? Ms Kelleher said.

“A study of transaction data in our report shows the Dublin market bottomed out in Q4 2012 with the national market doing so in Q1 2013. However it’s clear the recovery in house prices will not necessarily happen in a straight line and at the same pace around the country.

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A separate analysis in the MyHome.ie report based on new sale instructions to the market shows that the median asking price has increased nationally and in Dublin.

In the year to Q1 the median asking price for new sale instructions in Dublin was up 10.2 per cent while nationally it increased by six per cent.