Residential property prices in Ireland increased by 6.7% in the year to July 2016, up from 6.1% in July and 4.9% in June, the latest index shows.
The figures are from a new Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) from the Central Statistics Office which has more information with new subdivisions giving a more detailed picture of what is happening in the country’s property market.
It shows that overall the recovery in the nation’s property market is being led by Dublin City from the low point of March 2013 and house prices in the Mid West have been the slowest to recover.
Month on month prices were up by 2.5% in July, up from the 1% increase recorded in June and the 0.8% increase from July of last year. However, prices are currently 34.7% lower than at their highest level in April 2007.
Apartments are performing better than houses. House prices increased 6.8% in the 12 months to July 2016 while apartment prices increased 7.4% over the same period. Overall house prices in July 2016 are 32.8% lower than their high point in 2007, with apartments 43% lower than at their peak.
The index report explains that apartment prices have responded more rapidly to changing market conditions than house prices over the past 10 years. Apartment prices fell more rapidly than house prices in 2009 and 2012 and recovered more rapidly between late 2014 and early 2015.
From 2013 onwards, apartments have increased their share of the household residential property market. In 2012 apartments accounted for 10.7% of the market in terms of transaction volume and 8.6% of the market in terms of transaction value, according to stamp duty returns filed that year. By 2015, the market share of apartments had increased to 15.6% by volume and 13.7% by value. In the first seven months of 2016 the share by volume remained at 15.6% and decreased slightly to 13.4% by value.
The data also shows that first time buyer numbers have been falling from 53.1% of the market in 2010 to just 24.4% in 2015. In the first seven months of 2016 first time buyers accounted for 24.6% of sales.
According to stamp duty filings, the most expensive place nationwide to buy a house is the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown area in Dublin, followed by Dublin City and Fingal while the least expensive place to buy a house in 2015 was County Longford, followed by Roscommon and Leitrim.
A breakdown of the figures show that in Dublin prices increased by 3.8% in the 12 months to July 2016, up from the 2.5% in the year to June but down from the 4.5% rise recorded in the year to July 2015.
Month on month Dublin prices increased by 1.6%, up from the 0.4% in June and July of last year and prices are now 58.2% higher than their lowest level recorded in April and May 2012, but remain 35.3% below their peak price level in 2006. Year on year Dublin prices were up 3.9% compared to 1.9% in the year to June.
In the year to July property prices outside Dublin increased by 11.3%. This compares with an increase of 8.9% in the year to June and an increase of 12.5% recorded in the year to July 2015 while month on month they were up 3.5% compared to 1.9% in June.
Outside of Dublin prices are 40.4% higher than at the lowest point in May 2013 but are 39% lower than at their highest level in 2007.
There are significant differences in house price developments across Ireland’s regions. Generally, the further from Dublin, the slower the house price recovery. However, the South-West region is a notable exception, the index report shows.
House prices in the South-West fell less than any other region, including Dublin, during the economic crisis. Although house prices in the Mid-East initially led the recovery outside of Dublin, from November 2015 onwards the South West has seen the fastest growth in house prices. Currently, house prices in the South West have recovered almost to the same extent as in Dublin, recovering to 91.9% of their January 2005 base period value compared to 92.9% in Dublin.
In contrast, house prices fell furthest and have recovered least in the Border, excluding County Louth, and are presently just 65.2% of their January 2005 base.
Sales also vary considerably from one county to another. County Cork shows a much higher level of market activity than any other county outside Dublin. In 2015, there were a total of 4,314 stamp duty returns filed for dwellings purchased in Cork, nearly twice the number of returns for Galway, the next most active county. On the other end of the scale, Monaghan showed the least level of activity, with just 272 dwellings purchases reported in 2015.
County Cork also had the greatest number of new dwellings at 287 purchased in 2015. The second most active county was Kildare with 233 filings for new dwellings in 2015 while Offaly had the least number in the year, with just six new dwelling sales.
