KATHRYN GEORGE/Stuff
Has the housing downturn helped make your dream of buying a house come true? Share your story.
WRITE ON STUFF: The housing market downturn may be music to the ears of people trying to get on the property ladder, or those looking to upgrade.
For many years, house prices have been increasing, making buying a house difficult, and even impossible for some people.
But they say there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
House prices nationwide are now more than 10% down from the market peak recorded late last year.
Jackie Harrison sold her Lower Hutt house to first home buyers for $300,000 less than she originally hoped.
The national median house price dropped by 1.8% annually to $810,000 in July. At the same time last year, it was $825,000.
Has this meant the struggle is now over for you?
READ MORE:
* Houses, sneakers, shares: What were the best investments to make 10 years ago?
* Here’s what Auckland’s median house price can buy in Australia
* New home consents level off, but construction pipeline strong
If you have finally been able to afford a home because of the market downturn, we want you to share your story. The best submissions will be published on Stuff.
Tell us about your journey trying to buy a home. How long were you searching for one?
How much have you managed to save on the home you purchased, compared to the prices before the housing market downturn?
Where is the house you have bought, and what made it right for you?
Did you have to make any sacrifices to afford the house, like moving somewhere new?
What advice do you have for others trying to buy at the moment?
We’re looking for submissions of between 400 and 800 words to be published in Stuff Nation. To share your experiences and photos of your new home, email: stuffnation@stuff.co.nz.
AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Heads up Amarillo, if you’re looking to buy a house, you definitely want to pay attention to the latest actions from the federal reserve.
“The buying power of buyers has decreased over the past few months due to increased interest rates,” said Jessica Martin, a realtor for RockOne Realty Group in Amarillo.
But, she explains, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“That does in no way means that we’re in a bad market. The average interest rates since 1971 was 7.76 (percent) interest. We’re in a normal market right now,” she added.
It’s more like a byproduct of a housing market returning to pre-pandemic levels.
“It’s actually changing. It’s actually, I can see it probably become more of a buyers’ market here after a while, so we’ve been touring houses are staying on the market longer, and you’re also seeing house prices drop,” Martin emphasized.
She said the current interest rate is 6.25% with points, and with interest rates going up, your mortgage rates will follow, as will your taxes.
“So, coming out of the period where rates were super low, it caused the value of the house to increase, which also increases the amount of taxes to the point that legislation has passed a bill for homeowners to alleviate some of that problem,” she noted.
Martin told us even though rates are ultimately rising, it’s not necessarily fattening landlords’ pockets.
“So, with the landlord’s taxes, of course that goes back on to the renter. So no, they’re not just being greedy, it’s just the taxes they’re having to pay,” she said.
So, how long is it expected to stay like this?
“I don’t think it’s a long term or short, short term issue. I think we’re finally just getting back to normal because we’ve been abnormal for the past couple of years,” she explained.
Setting up for a home sweet home.
For more information on the homebuying process, including homeowners classes to walk you through the process, give Martin a call at 806-433-2133, or click here.
Joyce grew up in Dublin, and later lived in France, Italy and Switzerland
FRAN CAFFREY
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CORRECTS para eight to name Sylvia Beach as publisher of ‘Ulysses’
A festival dedicated to James Joyce’s novel “Ulysses” is touring 18 European cities, with artists and writers linking the work to contemporary issues such as immigration.
“Ulysses”, published in 1922, counts among the 20th century’s key novels, and its centenary has already sparked much celebration in Joyce’s native Ireland.
But Liam Browne, co-artistic curator of “Ulysses European Odyssey”, said the tour is to go beyond the kind of literary fandom seen at home.
“What interested us was Joyce as a European figure, rather than an Irish figure,” he told AFP on the margins of the tour event in Marseille on the southern French coast.
“In his imagination he was engaging with Dublin to write his novels but actually his day-to-day existence was in these European cities,” Browne said.
The crude language and sexual content in “Ulysses” meant there was no chance of it getting published in conservative 1920s Ireland or anywhere else in the English-speaking world.
It became the target of an obscenity trial in the United States, and was banned in Britain for more than a decade.
‘Ulysses’ sparked scandal when it was published in 1922
FRAN CAFFREY
In the end, it was published in Paris by American Sylvia Beach, owner of the “Shakespeare and Company” bookshop which is still a gathering point for aspiring writers today.
The novel tells the story of a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom, while Joyce links the day’s events to Homer’s “Odyssey”. Scholars are still busy tracing the subtle connections.
The book has a reputation for being difficult to understand, with the New York Times predicting in its 1922 review that “not ten men or women out of a hundred can read ‘Ulysses’ through”.
Fans the world over still celebrate “Bloomsday” in honour of Joyce every year on June 16.
One of the aims of the European tour — involving actors, directors, writers, musicians, photographers and even food experts — is to connect the novel with today’s burning topics.
“We wanted a multi-art response and we wanted the art engaging with society and social issues,” Browne said. “Nationalism, exile, sexuality and the place of women in society.”
Joyce, who grew up in Dublin, later lived in Paris, Trieste in Italy, and Zurich in Switzerland, where he died.
“We believed that the book would not have become what it was without Joyce’s exile in Europe,” said co-artistic curator Sean Doran. “We are fascinated about this concept about home,” he said.
Marseille, he said, was “perfect to explore that subject, people here are coming from everywhere in the Mediterranean”.
An Anglo-Irish artist duo based in Marseille, Myles Quin and Gethan Dick, picked immigration and exile for their performance piece at the weekend, featuring recent arrivals from Afghanistan, Sudan, Algeria, Guinea and Syria in their depiction of the trauma of attempting to cross the Mediterranean in search for a better life.
“It seemed impossible to talk about them without making them actors in the performance,” said Sophie Cattani, co-founder of local arts collective “ildi ! eldi”.
Other venues for the tour, which is sponsored by the EU, include Athens, Budapest, Berlin and Istanbul.
Dublin will be its penultimate stop in 2024. The tour ends in Londonderry, also known as Derry, Northern Ireland, with female artists from the other venues joining in the festival’s finale.
The rate of house price inflation has halved in the past three months as home-buyers become more cautious amid rising living costs, a new survey has found.
The actual selling price of a three-bedroom semi-detached house across the country rose by 1.4% over the past three months to 290,630 euro – an annual increase of 10%, according to the latest Real Estate Alliance (REA) average house price index.
REA said this is a marked slowdown on the 2.9% quarterly increase recorded in the preceding three months, “signalling a cooling of the frenetic demand in the marketplace”.
The third quarter index also found that A-rated homes are fetching 12% more than C-rated properties.
The gap rises to 16% in the capital as running costs become more important to home-buyers.
The time taken to reach “sale agreed” rose from four weeks to five weeks as REA agents nationwide reported a “less frenzied” approach to viewing and buying.
While the actual average selling price of three-bedroom homes in Dublin city is about to breach the 500,000 euro mark, the 0.8% quarterly rise to 497,500 euro is half that experienced in the previous three months.
REA spokesman Barry McDonald said: “We have seen a definite slowdown in demand levels and the urgency that we were seeing with buyers has reduced.
“The traditional summer lull returned for the first time in a few years and there was no signs of the market heating up again in September, which is good news for buyers.”
He went on: “Interest rate rises and cost-of-living inflation are definitely affecting sentiment, with viewers patiently waiting for the right property.
“There is still a massive shortage of housing, but Dublin agents REA Grimes are reporting an increase in supply and a wider choice of properties coming to market, leading to a longer sale time.
“The energy rating of a house is becoming a main talking point, with buyers increasingly taking the cost of heating or increasing the energy rating of older homes into account.”
First-time buyers accounted for almost 60% of all purchasers in the third quarter of this year, according to REA, a figure which rose to 76% in Dublin.
Meanwhile, the latest data from property website Myhome.ie showed that the rate of increase in asking prices for homes slowed in the third quarter of the year.
Myhome.ie’s house price report found quarterly asking price inflation dropped by 1.3% nationally between July and September compared with the previous quarter.
It takes the annual rate of inflation to 7.8% and means the median asking price for new properties on the market now stands at 320,000 euro.
In Dublin, asking price inflation dropped by 1.1% in the third quarter, taking the median asking price to 420,000 euro.
Elsewhere around the country the inflation rate dropped by 1% quarter on quarter, taking the median asking price to 275,000 euro.
The average time to reach “sale agreed” in the three months to the end of September fell to 2.6 months nationwide, which Myhome.ie said is “indicative” of a very tight housing market.
Report author and Davy chief economist Conall MacCoille said the latest figures do not necessarily mean persistent price falls.
“Asking prices are typically weak as the busy summer trading season peters out and fell in both Q3 2018 and Q3 2019,” he said.
“After the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, the usual seasonal pattern has re-emerged.”
He added that there is mixed news on supply: “On one hand, new listings for sale are strong, suggesting the market is merely making up for lost time following delayed transactional activity in 2020 and 2021.
“However, it is most unwelcome to see construction activity curtailed by supply chain issues and rising input costs.”
He said rising interest rates will lead to slower price growth, but that pent-up demand in the market remains strong.
The average mortgage approval rose to 288,300 euro, up 8% on the year.
“In the year to June, 16% of mortgage approvals failed to translate into a drawdown, indicative of frustrated buyers,” he said.
Mr MacCoille added that price growth will continue, albeit at a slower rate.
“Looking forward, we expect that Irish house asking prices will grow by 6% through 2022 and by 3% in 2023,” he said.
“There are of course many risks to this view.
“Ireland potentially faces an energy crisis this winter amid fears of a full-blown European recession brought on by events in Ukraine and surging natural gas prices.”
MyHome.ie managing director Joanne Geary said: “It appears that a number of factors have eased the runaway asking price inflation we were seeing earlier this year.
“This is in line with our predictions throughout the year and it is important to note that this represents a much-needed correction in the market.”
Rising mortgage rates and slower home price growth are some of the predictions pros shared with us.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Aspiring buyers have plenty of questions right now: Will home prices fall? What about mortgage rates? (See the lowest mortgage rates you may get now here.) What else should I know? So we asked real estate pros to share their predictions for the housing market through the rest of 2022.
Prediction 1: Mortgage rates may continue to rise
Nadia Evangelou, director of real estate research for the National Association of Realtors, notes that mortgage rates have doubled since the beginning of the year, surpassing 6% in September. And pros say they may keep climbing.
“Mortgage rates are climbing with renewed urgency following the recent Fed meeting in which Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that fighting inflation is the first priority for the Fed,” says Realtor.com chief economist Danielle Hale. (See the lowest mortgage rates you may get now here.)
Prediction 2: There may be a continued deceleration of home prices
Evangelou says there’s been a gradual deceleration of home prices, and that will continue. “Home prices have increased year-over-year by less than a double-digit percentage for two straight months. With rising mortgage rates hurting affordability, price gains will continue to slow, likely 5% by year-end,” says Evangelou.
And looking into October, Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, says asking prices — and the eventual sales price of homes — will come down from the astronomical prices we’ve been seeing, as the housing market slows and mortgage rates continue to ratchet higher.
Meanwhile, Hale says housing prices continue to moderate and are declining on a month-to-month basis. “This is true for both the median list price and the median sales price. According to the most recent data, the median listing price continues to grow at a double-digit pace while the median sales price registered just 7.7% growth,” says Hale.
What’s more, Hale expects that housing prices will continue to moderate as rising mortgage rates curtail buyer purchasing power. “But a dwindling number of existing homeowner sellers and fewer new homes for sale will keep prices from adjusting too quickly,” says Hale.
All this might mean the housing market is actually rebalancing toward a healthier place. “Home values have fallen slightly the past two months from their record highs set in June, due to a pullback in demand. The typical US home is worth about 0.4% or $1,500 less than it was in June,” says Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.
Prediction 3: There’s a lot of variation between markets
While home prices continue to experience year-over-year increases, they’ve backed off from the high we saw in early summer. “Whether prices are truly dropping depends on the specific market,” says Kate Wood, home expert at NerdWallet. According to August 2022 data from Redfin, home prices were up 6.9% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $406,586. That said, the number of homes sold was down 18.4% year-over-year.
Some areas are indeed cooling off, but others are still hot enough that price decreases may simply herald a return to traditional seasonality. “In a normal market, we’d expect to see home prices begin to back off as fall turns into winter, but the real estate market in most parts of the country remains far from normal,” says Wood.
Prediction 4: Buyers will have a less stressful shopping experience
The affordability challenges confronting buyers have only worsened with rising mortgage rates and therefore, Tucker expects further small price declines through October. “Inventory is sitting just below its August peak, and listings are taking longer to go pending. Taken together, that all means it’s a better time to buy for those still in the market. Buyers will have a less stressful experience that they’ve had over the last couple years,” says Tucker.
The advice, recommendations or rankings expressed in this article are those of MarketWatch Picks, and have not been reviewed or endorsed by our commercial partners.
The price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Kilkenny has risen by 4% to €262,500 in the last three months, according to the latest national survey by Real Estate Alliance.
Across the county, time taken to sell has risen by one week to an average of five this quarter, the Q3 REA Average House Price Index shows.
Kilkenny agents are reporting that 35% of purchasers this quarter were first time buyers, with 40% of buyers coming from outside of the county.
Additionally, the data shows that BER A-rated homes are commanding a 12% premium over their C-rated equivalents.
In Kilkenny city, prices rose by 5.1% to €310,000 this quarter, with the average time taken to sell falling by one week to four weeks in total.
“Deliberation is creeping in, and people are currently taking their time and thinking a lot more about their choices,” said Michael Boyd of REA Boyd’s, Kilkenny.
Prices in Callan increased by 2.4% this quarter to €215,000, with time taken to sell increasing by one week to a total of five.
“We are seeing that there still is good demand in the market, despite the interest rate increase and inflation,” said Robbie Grace of REA Grace, Callan.
“There is good demand from outside the area, with people looking to relocate from Dublin.”
Nationally, the rate of house price inflation has halved in the past three months as rising costs cause home buyers to be more cautious.
The actual selling price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by 1.4% over the past three months to €290,630 – representing an annual increase of 10%.
This is a marked slowdown on the 2.9% quarterly increase recorded in the preceding three months, signalling a cooling of the frenetic demand in the marketplace.
And the index found that A rated homes are commanding a 12% premium over their C rated equivalents – a figure that rises to 16% in the capital as running costs become more important to home buyers.
The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.
Time taken to reach sale agreed rose to five weeks from four as REA agents nationwide reported a less frenzied approach to viewing and buying.
While the actual average selling price of three bedroomed homes in Dublin city is about to breach the €500,000 mark, the 0.8% quarterly rise to €497,500 is half that experienced in the previous three months.
58% of all purchasers in the past quarter were first-time buyers according to REA, a figure which rose to 76% in Dublin as people with mortgage approval look to get on the housing ladder.
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House price increases have slowed to €1,000 a month over the past year as spiralling interest rates and the supply of new homes starts to affect the market, a new report shows.
The study from property website MyHome.ie suggests the housing market has started to slow as activity levels return to seasonal norms.
In the year to the end of September, the average national asking price stood at €320,000 which is €12,000 more than at the same point last year. However, in the 12 months to the end of September 2021, average prices were shooting up by €2,167 a month as the national average asking price increased by €26,000 from €282,000 to €308,000.
In Dublin, the average asking price increased to €420,000, compared to €414,000 last year. Outside Dublin, the average was €275,000, an increase of €15,000 compared to last year.
David Hall of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation said that even though asking price inflation might be slowing, it will still be difficult for buyers.
“We are going to see a levelling off if not a reduction. Coupled with everything else, the banks are assessing the loans differently as well. They are taking into consideration the expenditure and the rising interest rates.
“It is going to be much more difficult to get money. You’ll have less people with the fire power required to keep the prices increased and that by default will show deflation.
“The demand is still massive, but we’ll see a stabilisation,” he said.
Mr Hall said the average mortgage application takes six months but banks are becoming more cautious about who they lend to. “All the margins that are usually used to assess your circumstances prior to a mortgage application, they are all wonky. Nothing is the same as it was six months ago and nothing will be the same in six months’ time,” he said.
Report author Conall MacCoille, Davy Stockbrokers’ chief economist, said house prices are expected to grow by 6% this year but by just 3% next year, reflecting a slowdown in the property market. “Ireland potentially faces an energy crisis this winter amid fears of a full-blown European recession brought on by events in Ukraine and surging natural gas prices.
“On one hand, new listings for sale are strong, suggesting the market is merely making up for lost time following delayed transactional activity in 2020 and 2021. However, it is most unwelcome to see construction activity curtailed by supply chain issues and rising input costs,” he said.
Mr MacCoille said the ECB‘s decision to increase interest rates will lead to slower price growth but pent-up demand is strong.
“In July, the average mortgage approval was €288,300 – up 8% on the year. In the year to June, 16% of mortgage approvals failed to translate into a drawdown, indicative of frustrated buyers.
“Similarly, the 30,000 applications to avail of the Help-to-Buy scheme over the past 12 months are well in excess of claims of just 7,400. Plus more than 1,000 applications have been lodged for the Government’s First Home Scheme since it opened in July.”
Hi there. It’s Monday, October 3 and you’re reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today’s news.
Let’s start here: Indonesia’s deadly soccer crush
Authorities in Indonesia have confirmed 17 of the 125 spectators who died in a violent riot that erupted after a domestic soccer league match were children.
Here’s the latest on the situation:
- 125 people have died, while more than 100 are receiving intensive treatment across eight hospitals, with some reported to be in a critical condition
- Police had revised the death toll down from 174, but say it may rise again because of how many remain in a critical condition
- The Arema soccer club has apologised to victims of the deadly stampede, with club president Gilang Widya Pramana stating he was ready to take full responsibility for the events
- Indonesia’s chief security minister Mahfud MD says the government will set up an independent commission to investigate how the stampede occurred
So what else can be done to stop events like this from occurring? We’ve got you covered.
Let’s get you up to speed:
- Property prices are continuing to decline nationally as a result of higher interest rates, with capital city housing markets dropping by up to 6 per cent in the past three months
- CoreLogic data shows that properties were sold for 1.4 per cent less on average nationally in September than they did in August
- The only capital city that didn’t experience a drop in house prices was Darwin, which has a median property value of just over $500,000
- Sydney recorded the largest decline, contracting by 1.8 per cent — meaning its property market has shed 6.1 per cent in value in the past three months alone
- And this decline in house prices could continue, pending tomorrow’s interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank — with some economists tipping the cash rate could reach 2.85 per cent.
News alerts you might have missed
What Australia has been searching for online
Let’s keep the sport theme rolling, shall we?
- Carlton. 24-year-old forward Harry McKay has signed a seven-year deal to stay with the Blues until at least the end of 2030.
- Rugby League World Cup. Australia’s named its Kangaroos World Cup squad but Clive Churchill medallist Dylan Edwards missed out on a spot — however, his fellow Panthers Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin have been included.
One more thing
ICYMI over the long weekend (or you were just swept up in football fever) the Met Gala has unveiled its 2023 theme — Karl Lagerfeld.
The late German-born designer was the creative director of iconic fashion houses including Chanel, Fendi and his own eponymous label before his death in 2019.
The Met Gala’s theme will borrow from the accompanying exhibit at the Met’s Costume Institute, which will be entitled Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty and will be on display from May 5 to July 16, 2023.
That said, not everyone is thrilled at the theme choice, with actress Jameela Jamil among those highlighting moments of sexism, misogyny and fatphobia throughout his career.
As for the Met Gala itself, we’ll see the interpretations play out on the first Monday in May next year.
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House prices in Donegal have skyrocketed by 21.6 percent in the last 12 months, according to the latest myhome.ie house price survey.
The average 3 bed semi-detached home in County Donegal now costs €152,000 – with the 21.6% price rise the highest rate in the country.
The average price of a home here is the second lowest of any county in the Republic, but prices have continued to rise consistently as inflation goes up, pressure continues nationwide on the housing market, and the mica crisis puts extra pressure on home availability in the North West.
Nationally prices have increased by 7.8% year-on-year as the demand for housing continues to outweigh supply and the number of houses being built.
That rate is slowing however, with the myhome.ie report stating that the property market here is beginning to cool off.
The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Davy, said that the latest figures did not necessarily mean we would see persistent price falls:
“Asking prices are typically weak as the busy summer trading season peters out and fell in both Q3 2018 and Q3 2019. After the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, the usual seasonal pattern has re-emerged.”
He said that there was mixed news on supply. “On one hand, new listings for sale are strong, suggesting the market is merely making up for lost time following delayed transactional activity in 2020 and 2021. However, it is most unwelcome to see construction activity curtailed by supply chain issues and rising input costs.”
He said rising interest rates will lead to slower price growth, but that pent-up demand in the market remained strong. “In July, the average mortgage approval was €288,300 – up 8% on the year. In the year to June, 16% of mortgage approvals failed to translate into a drawdown, indicative of frustrated buyers.
The energy crisis has started to affect house prices with homebuyers now willing to pay up to €60,000 more for energy efficient homes rated B or higher, it has emerged.
he latest Irish Independent/Real Estate Alliance (REA) Average House Price Index data shows that a price gap is opening between energy efficient homes and those of a BER C rating and below.
Homes with the highest A and B energy ratings, are now selling for 12pc more than lower-ranked properties around the country and fetching 16pc extra in Dublin.
For an average home, this amounts to a difference of around €36,000 around the country and almost €60,000 in the capital, where the average price for a three-bed semi is ready to break through the €500,000 barrier.
The price gaps opening reflect a number of factors. First, the steadily increasing price of oil and gas, which still heats the majority of Irish homes, means buyers are becoming increasingly conscious of heating costs and are increasingly likely to pay more for a better insulated home.
The second factor is that the cost of construction materials and labour have shot up since the beginning of the year and therefore the bill for upgrading a home rated C or lower to a BER A or B has increased.
The Budget levy on concrete will also have an effect. In the year to April 2022 inflation in building and construction materials was at 18.2pc while some materials hiked even higher with wood and metal prices up by 60pc.
The good news is that REA data shows the rate of house price inflation has halved in the past three months as rising costs caused home buyers to be more cautious.
The actual selling price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by 1.4pc over the past three months to €290,630 – an annual increase of 10pc.
This is a marked slowdown on the 2.9pc quarterly increase recorded in the preceding three months, signalling a cooling of the frenetic demand in the marketplace.
The time taken to reach ‘sale agreed’ rose to five weeks from four as REA agents nationwide reported a less frenzied approach to buying.
While the actual average selling price of three-bedroomed homes in Dublin city is about to breach the €500,000 mark for the first time, the 0.8pc quarterly rise to €497,500 is half that experienced in the previous three months.
“We have seen a definite slowdown in demand levels and the urgency that we were seeing with buyers has reduced,” said REA spokesperson Barry McDonald, whose own area of Lucan reported a 2pc drop in prices, back to March levels at €410,000.
“The traditional summer lull returned for the first time in a few years and there was no signs of the market heating up again in September, which is good news for buyers.
“Interest rate rises and cost of living inflation are definitely affecting sentiment, with viewers patiently waiting for the right property.
“There is still a massive shortage of housing, but Dublin agents REA Grimes are reporting an increase in supply and a wider choice of properties coming to market, leading to a longer sale time.
“The energy rating of a house is becoming a main talking point, with buyers increasingly taking the cost of heating or increasing the energy rating of older homes into account.”
First-time buyers accounted for 58pc of all purchasers in the past quarter, according to REA, a figure that rose to 76pc in Dublin, as people with mortgage approval look to get on the housing ladder.
The highest quarterly increase was seen in the country’s large towns where prices rose by 2.1pc to €207,207.
The survey found that a quarter of purchasers in this sector were from outside the county, as the appeal of home working still endures.
Prices in commuter counties rose by 0.7pc over the past three months, with time taken to sell jumping from three to five weeks. The only commuter town to record a drop was Dundalk, Co Louth, where prices fell by 4pc to €240,000.
Cities outside the capital experienced a 1.7pc rise to an average selling price of €303,750.
Prices in Galway city rose by 3.1pc to €330,000, with the average home taking just four weeks to sell.
“We have seen continued strong activity in Galway city during the summer, and prices have increased with energy efficient, well-located homes in highest demand,” said Kevin Burke of REA McGreal Burke.
“Buyers are very conscious of the cost of running their new home, and A-rated energy efficient homes are commanding a premium of 20pc in the market.”
Cork increased by 1.4pc to €350,000, while Waterford city prices were steady. Limerick saw prices increase by 1.9pc to €265,000.
“The number of landlords exiting the market is now somewhere between one in two and one in three,” said Pat Dooley of REA Dooley in Limerick. “A big issue will be that tenants will have nowhere to go when their termination notices are up, and we need emergency legislation relating to taxation of landlords to slow the exodus of properties from the rental market.
The Irish Independent REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market.