Northside property prices continue to surge

ASKING prices for Northside homes are increasing by up to 13 per cent while properties in the city centre are surging by over 18 per cent according to the latest report from Daft.ie.

The average asking price for a home in the North City is now €323,550, up 13 per cent from last year.

In the North County the increase is slightly less at 12.7 per cent but the figure for the City Centre is now 18.2 per cent.

In the West County, which includes Dublin 15, the increase is still in single digits at seven per cent.

For the first time in over two years, the annual rate of inflation in the capital (12.3 per cent) exceeds the rate elsewhere in the country (11.3 per cent), according to the report that was published last week.

There were 3,250 properties for sale in Dublin in June, higher than three months previously (2,700) but lower than a year ago (3,800).

The Daft.ie report for the second quarter of the year shows that half (50 per cent) of Dublin properties find a buyer within two months – up from 41 per cent a year ago.

Author of the report, Ronan Lyons, says Central Bank rules have largely dictated property inflation since they were introduced three years ago.

“After two years where Central Bank rules had capped house price growth in the capital, the relaxation of those rules has helped drive prices further up,” he said.

“Whereas non-urban markets had driven house price growth in 2015 and 2016, Dublin again is seeing increases that are above the national average.

“With each passing quarter, the imperative becomes even greater to address the high construction costs that are limiting the ability of supply to meet strong demand.”

Meanwhile, the latest MyHome Property Market report suggests that competition for homes will intensify through 2017.

“There were only 20,895 homes listed (nationally) for sale, just one per cent of the overall housing stock of two million homes,” said Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist of Davy Research.

“The situation in Dublin is even more acute, with just 3,986 homes listed for sale.

In this context, it is not surprising to see the average time to sale agreed fall to a fresh low of 3.8 months nationally and just 2.7 months in Dublin.

“As housing supply fails to keep pace with demand, whatever housing stock is listed for sale is being snapped up ever more quickly by desperate buyers.”

The MyHome report says average prices in Dublin North City are up 13.51 per cent to €210,000.

The figure for Dublin North is up 4.53 per cent to €277,000 and in Dublin West the increase is 6.82 per cent to €235,000.

According to the Central Statistics Office RPPI index, Dublin house price inflation rose to 8.1 per cent in April while apartment prices were up 8.6 per cent.

MacCoille says if reports that the Government’s ‘Help-to-Buy’ scheme will be eliminated in Budget 2018 are confirmed, there could be a rush of transactions at the end of the year as first-time buyers try to avail of the incentive. 

“Nonetheless, the bigger picture is that Irish house price inflation should remain robust, driven by the recovering economy and rising incomes, despite the end of the Help-to-Buy scheme,” he added.

The Department of Finance has commissioned a review of the Help-to-Buy scheme, which is due to be published in August.

The MyHome report also reveals that  547 of the 638 homes sold for over €1 million were in Dublin.

The vast majority were south of the Liffey. Locations in North County Dublin saw 20 transactions exceeding €1 million in areas such as Howth, Malahide and Kinsealy.

Clontarf also had nine transactions exceeding €1m in 2016.