Asking prices for homes in Offaly went up by 10% in 2020

In a time of unprecedented disruption across society, the average cost of a home in Ireland has continued to rise, with asking prices increasing by more than 10% in Offaly during 2020.

That figure was contained in the annual Daft.ie house price report, which showed steady demand for homes across the country as supply remained stagnant.

"Covid-19 has not upended – and in fact may have amplified – the trend that dominated Ireland's housing market in the 2010s.

"That trend is one of chronic and worsening shortages of housing, in particular for urban and smaller households – and in particular in the rental segment," commented Trinity College economist Ronan Lyons.

The 2020 house price report showed that Offaly was the second most expensive county in the Midlands for housing, behind Westmeath.

The average asking price of a home in the Faithful County now stands at €198,285, which is a 10.4% increase on the figure a year ago.

A breakdown of the asking prices for certain types of homes showed that, in Offaly, a one-bedroom apartment was listed at an average of €78,000, a two-bed terraced house was €102,000, a three-bed semi detached house was €136,000, a four-bed bungalow was €273,000, and, at the top end of the market, a five-bed detached house carried a €309,000 price tag.

There were just under 5,000 property transactions involving newly-built homes in Ireland in 2020, which was down by 27% on the 2019 figure, and, of these new homes, 29 were in Offaly.

Just 49,000 homes were advertised for sale on Daft.ie in 2020 - the lowest number in any of the last five years.

"Combined with the fall in the construction of new homes, this reduction in the volume of homes coming on to the market has translated into unprecedented scarcity of homes for sale," commented Mr Lyons.

"Since the start of 2007, when Daft.ie’s nationwide coverage was effectively complete for the first time, there had always been at least 20,000 homes for sale on the market at any one time.

"Over those thirteen years, the average number of homes for sale on the market was just over 40,000 – with a peak of 63,000 in 2008.

"Since the Covid-19 pandemic reached Ireland in March, supply on the market has never been above 20,000 and, on December 1, was just 15,390 - down one-third on the already low figure recorded in the same month a year previously.

"The lack of supply, coupled with demand for housing holding up remarkably well this year, has translated into strong increases in housing prices, especially in the second half of the year," he concluded.