Property prices up over 12% in Ireland year on year with growth set to continue

Property prices in Ireland increased at a national level by 12.2% in the year to August, up from the annual increase of 11.6% from the previous month and the 7.2% recorded in the same month in 2016.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSA) show that in Dublin property prices increased by 11.9% year in year with houses up 11.7% and apartments up 11.6% and the highest growth of 13.4% was in Dublin City, at 13.4%, the lowest in Fingal at 9%.

Property prices in the rest of Ireland increased by 12.6% year on year with house prices up 12.3% and apartments p 15.4%. The highest growth was 15.4% in the West region while the smallest was 9.6% in the Mid-West region.

Overall, the national index is 25% lower than its highest level in 2007 and in Dublin prices are 25.9% lower than their February 2007 peak while prices in the rest of Ireland are 30.8% lower than their May 2007 peak.

The CSO figures reveal the extent of the recovery in the property market since the economic downturn of 2007. From the trough in early 2013, prices nationally have increased by 67.5% while in Dublin they are up 83.5% from their February 2012 low, and in the rest of Ireland are 59.3% higher than the trough of May 2013.

A breakdown of the figures show that in the 12 months to August, the median price paid was €215,000 with the highest in Dublin at €337,000. Of the four administrative areas of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median price at €510,000 and Fingal the lowest at €301,000.

Outside Dublin, the highest median prices were in Wicklow at €294,000 and Kildare at €265,000 while the lowest was €79,447 in Longford and €85,000 in Roscommon, while the mean market price paid was €262,846.

In August the mean price paid was higher in Dublin than in any other region or county at €416,653 with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown the most expensive at €590,531 while South Dublin was the least expensive, with a mean price of €343,050.

After Dublin, the next most expensive region was the Mid-East, where the mean price paid was €264,097 and within the region County Wicklow was most expensive at €329,468, making it the second most expensive county after Dublin.

The least expensive was the Border region, with a mean price of €123,570. However, the least expensive county was Longford in the Midland region, with a mean price of €95,647.

Prices are expected to continue to rise in the short term as supply is not keeping up with demand, according to Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion. ‘We see house price growth staying in positive territory on a year on year basis for the foreseeable future, with the annual rate of increase now looking like it’s set to remain in double digits for the remainder of 2017 and well into 2018,’ he said.