Munster sees biggest fall in property prices in past year
Munster has seen the biggest fall in property sale prices in the last 12 months - with a drop of 4.9% - according to figures released by Daft.ie.
The housing market report, which details trends in the Irish estate market for June 2020, is published today and shows that nationally sale prices in June this year were an average 3.3% lower than in 2019.
Sale prices dropped in Dublin by 3.8%, while elsewhere in Leinster, prices fell by 2.9%.
In Connacht-Ulster sales prices were almost 1% higher than this time last year.
Nationally, rent prices for June 2020 remained similar to those recorded in 2019.
There was 0.5% increase in Dublin, a 1.2% increase in Leinster, and a 0.2% increase in Munster. The Connacht-Ulster reported a 2% drop in rent prices.
Ronan Lyons, Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and the author of the report, said of the house price changes outlined in it: “After two pretty volatile months, in terms of changes in listed prices, the month of June was largely calm."
The report not only looked at house prices but also the number of properties listed for rent and for sale.
“The number of properties posted for sale during April and May was roughly one-quarter of what had been posted in 2019," Ronan Lyon said.
But in June, the number of ads recovered to just 15% fewer than in 2019 – not far off January and February, which were more than 10% below 2019 levels.
The report indicates that the rental segment has been less affected than sales and the recovery seen this June means it is the second-highest number of properties for rent in the last five years.
This is largely due to the situation in Dublin, where there were 65% more rental ads in June 2020 than the same month a year ago. Elsewhere, there was annual growth in rental listings but far less dramatic – from 10% in Munster to 24% in Leinster.
According to the report, in the first half of 2020, there were almost 15,500 homes put up for rent in Dublin, up 3,000 on the same six months in 2019.
For the rest of the country, there was almost the same number of rental ads in January-June, just below 15,400. According to the report, this represented a fall of 1,000 in 2019.
“Setting to one side – if that is possible – the Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic turmoil, the additional rental supply in Dublin is most welcome for a city starved of rental homes, ” said Mr Lyons.
“The danger, however, lies in the trap of thinking that these extra 3,000 homes on the market represent the solution to the housing shortage.
"The 3,000 homes represents less than one month’s demand of rental homes and – to the extent that it represents a shift from the short-term lettings market to the long-term rental one – is a one-off gain.”
