Property prices in Westmeath steady so far but down on last year

Property prices in Westmeath have remained unchanged in Q2, according to the latest MyHome.ie Property Report in association with Davy.

The report for Q2 2020 shows that the median asking price for a property in the county has stayed steady at €195,000 since Q1. This represents a decrease of €4,950 compared to this time last year.

Continuing this trend, asking prices for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county stayed steady over the quarter at €180,000. Prices for this house type are down €9,000 compared to this time last year.

Meanwhile, the asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Westmeath also stayed flat over the quarter at €215,000. This means prices in the segment were unchanged compared to this time last year.

The number of properties for sale in Westmeath on MyHome.ie fell by 16% in the last quarter and was down 23% on this time last year.

The average time for a property to go sale agreed in the county after being placed up for sale now stands at just over four and a half months.

National picture

The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Davy, said that the negative asking price inflation seen throughout the country had to be viewed in the context of far fewer listings in Q2 compared to a year ago.

“Our price measure is based on just 3,700 new properties listed for sale over the past three months, down 64% from 10,200 one year ago. Observed prices were therefore clearly biased towards those vendors willing to put their homes on the market despite the enormous uncertainty of the Covid-19 outbreak.”

He added that despite a highly uncertain outlook for the property market, there was cause for some optimism. “The negative impact of Covid-19 could still have a more slow burn impact on the Irish housing market than many participants anticipate. That said, the clear anecdotal evidence is that activity in the housing market is returning to normal levels and with greater confidence than estate agents had expected.”

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said the significant drop-off in activity in Q2 meant that a clearer picture of Covid-19’s effect would not be seen until Q3. “With activity significantly down on normal levels for most of the quarter, it is perhaps not hugely surprising that we have seen prices stay relatively steady as many buyers adopt a wait and see approach. In Q3 we will have a better sense of how the overall economic picture has affected the housing market across the country.”

Full details of the report can be found at www.myhome.ie/reports.