Ireland would need over 200,000 extra homes this year alone to catch up with the UK’s housing stock ratio and meet the rising population, according to the latest quarterly house price report from MyHome in association with Bank of Ireland.
The Q3 2024 report shows that Ireland’s exceptional population and labour market growth has put intense pressure on the housing market, which is seriously under-supplied.
“Competition for available homes is still relentless, with homes being sold for 7% over the asking price at the median,” said Joanne Geary, Managing Director of MyHome.
Donegal prices rose by a sharp 15% to €230,000 at the median in Q3 2024.
The median price of a four-bedroom semi-detached in Donegal was €250,000 – up 25.9% since last year.
The median price of a two-bedroom apartment in Donegal was €110,000 – up 18.9%.
Author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, said: that despite extremely challenging market conditions, with intense demand and a sustained lack of adequate supply, it was promising to see housing starts rise to 49,000 in the year to July. “However, the rush of activity prior to the expected expiry of waivers on local authority development levies and infrastructure charges means it is hard to gauge when these starts will translate into completions. Still, housing activity has held up far better than expected to the threat to viability from build cost inflation and elevated energy costs.”
He concluded: “The broad message from the MyHome asking price data is that the CSO’s official measure of house price inflation, based on transactions, looks set to peak in the coming months. That said, residential property price inflation was 9.6% in July, ahead of our MyHome figures, because homebuyers are increasingly paying over and above the original asking price. Nonetheless, we still expect RPPI inflation to fall back in the coming months, and finish 2024 at 7.75%.”
