Local house prices up 4% in three months

The price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Westmeath has risen by 4.1% to €255,000 in the last three months, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance.

And the survey has shown that 70% of sales in the county are to first-time buyers, with 30% of all purchasers coming from outside the area.

Across the county, the average time taken to sell is four weeks, the Q1 REA Average House Price Index has shown.

“We have seen the market affected by a severe shortage of supply,” said Donna Hynes of REA Hynes.

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.

Nationally, house prices are increasing at an average of almost €100 a day as the market shows no signs of slowing up in the early months of 2022, the survey has found.

Average house prices rose by 3.16% nationally in the first three months of year, matching the 1% a month increases experienced during the Celtic Tiger days.

And illustrating the two-tier nature of the market, 59% of all purchasers were first-time buyers, that figure rising to 76% in Dublin as people with mortgage approval scramble to get on the housing ladder.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by almost €9,000 over the past three months to €278,500 – representing an annual increase of over 14%.

The average three bed in Dublin is fast approaching the €500,000 mark, with actual selling prices rising by 2.2% since the new year, to an average of €481,250.

Commuter counties saw prices increase 4.47% – a jump of €13,000 to €305,000 – and double the rate of increase seen in the capital.

In the rest of the country, where prices rose 3.4% to €196,569, the survey found that one in every three buyers were from outside the county as new working conditions enable a rethink on home bases