Glimmer of hope for Offaly house hunters

With house prices in Offaly now 4% lower than they were one year ago, according to the end of year report issued by Ireland's largest property website, Daft.ie, local families hoping to buy a house in the new decade can be more optimistic of a further fall in the price of property.

In Offaly, houses prices in the final quarter of 2019 were 4% lower than a year previously, compared to a rise of 10% seen a year ago. The average house price across the county now stands at €179,000, but despite the small drop in price, residential properties in Offaly are still a whopping 48% above their lowest point.

In Dublin, prices in the third quarter of 2019 were 1% lower than a year previously, compared to a fall of 3% seen a year ago. The average house price in the capital is now €366,000, 26% below peak levels.

In Ireland, housing prices fell by 1.2% during 2019, the first calendar year recording a fall in prices since 2012, The average price nationwide in the final quarter of the year was €250,766, 2.4% lower than in the third quarter and 1.2% lower than a year ago.

Meanwhile, in Galway city, prices were unchanged on a year previously. In the other main cities, prices were higher, with year-on-year increases of 0.8% in Cork, 2.9% in Limerick and 3.3% in Waterford. Outside the cities, prices were also falling, by between 0.8% in Munster and 2.6% in Connacht-Ulster.

Following nearly a year and a half of improving availability, this marks the fourth month where stock on the market has fallen, according to the Daft.ie report.The number of properties available to buy on the market nationwide was just under 22,500 in December, down almost 5% year-on-year.

Reviewing the latest figures, and the performance of the housing market over the last decade, Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said: “In the first and final quarters of the 2010s, sale prices were falling – but that is where the similarities end. Over the last ten years, the sales segment of Ireland’s housing market has transformed, albeit slowly.

“Nonetheless, just because the sales segment is by and large in balance does not mean that Ireland’s housing system is healthy. There remain huge issues with the other segments of the system, including private rental and social housing. In addition, a huge mismatch exists between the existing stock of housing, which is predominantly for households of three or more persons, and the country’s housing needs, with one and two-person households not only the majority of households already but also accounting for the overwhelming majority of new households the country will add over coming decades. This is what policymakers need to focus on in the coming decade.”