Residential sales across Ireland increased by 3.6% in the first half of 2018, compared to the same period last year, while the value of those transactions increased by 18% from €6.04 billion to €7.11 billion.
A breakdown of the figures from the latest study from property site MyHome, show that sales increased in 16 counties, fell in nine and remained unchanged in one while the amount of money spent on property in each county was up in all but three counties, Louth, Monaghan and Clare.
While the falls in the number of sales in many counties were low or even marginal, there were sizable falls in Monaghan with a decrease of 21.7%, Kilkenny down 9.5%, Cavan down 9.2% and Clare down 7.4%.
Dublin, which is responsible for around a third of the property market, led the way in the first six months of the year an increase in sales of 8% year on year. However, the value of sales in the capital rose by a substantial 26% to €3.8 billion from €3.01 billion.
There were 335 €1 million plus sales in Dublin in the first half of the year. While 16 of the top 17 sales were for apartment blocks, the biggest one off property sale was Inniscorrig, Coliemore Road, Dalkey in May for €7.8 million.
There were six €1 million plus sales in Kildare, five in Meath, 21 sales of €1 million plus sales in Cork with the largest one off property sale being San Paula on Orchard Road for €1.9 million in January.
Angela Keegan, managing director of MyHome.ie, explained that the bad weather caused a lot of disruption early in the year but with sales continuing to pick up she forecasts that the total number of sales in 2018 will be close to 60,000, an increase of 9%.
‘To put this in context there are around two million residential properties in Ireland and in a normal functioning market you’d expect to see 5% or 100,000 properties changing hands annually. Clearly we still have some way to go but we are moving in the right direction,’ she explained.
‘The increase in the value of sales is being driven by the sale of a number of major developments as well as the double digit price inflation we have seen recently in Dublin and around the country. MyHome’s latest property report indicates prices are now cooling due to the lending controls introduced by the Central Bank which is also positive,’ she said.
She also pointed out that while the rise in sales in the commuter belt was a big part of the story in the first six months of last year, it’s interesting that the counties recording the biggest percentage increase in sales this year include Carlow, up 18.5%, Roscommon up 4.6%, Laois up 13.5%, Waterford up 11.8% and Donegal up 9%.
‘Not surprisingly some of these counties also feature prominently in the list of counties where the value of sales rose the most. This trend probably reflects the fact that the recovery is spreading to other parts of the country while it also indicates some people may be moving out beyond the commuter belt due to affordability issues,’ Keegan added.
The counties with the lowest number of sales were Monaghan with just 162, Longford with 201 and Leitrim with 214.
As noted the most money by some margin was spent in Dublin at €3.8 billion, followed by Cork with €662 million and Kildare with €353 million. The least was €19.3 million in Longford.
