Average price of Westmeath home now €262,000

The average price of a home in Westmeath is now €262,000, 122% above its lowest point, according to the latest Daft.ie Sales Report.

Prices in the county in the second quarter of 2022 were 13% higher than a year previously, compared to a rise of 15% seen a year ago.

National housing prices rose by 3.8% on average between March and June, the largest three-month gain in nearly two years, and the average listed price nationwide in the second quarter of 2022 was €311,874, up 9.5% on the same period in 2021 and just 16% below the Celtic Tiger peak.

The rural-urban gap in housing inflation continues to narrow, although the largest increases are in still rural areas.

Outside the cities, prices rose by 11.4% in the year to June, down from a peak rate of inflation of 16.8% a year ago.

In Dublin, the year-on-year change in prices was 6.6%, compared to just 3.4% at the end of 2021.

There were larger increases in prices in the other cities have seen in the same period: in Cork, prices were 9.4% higher than a year previously; in Limerick city, prices were up 11.1%. The biggest increases in urban housing prices were in Galway (13%) and Waterford cities (13.5%).

The number of homes available to buy on June 1 was approximately 12,400, up from an all-time low of 10,000 three months earlier.

There are now slightly more homes available to buy in Ireland than a year ago, the first time since mid-2019 that that has been the case.

As in 2019, improved availability is being driven by Dublin (where stock for sale is up 4.5% year-on-year) and the rest of Leinster (where it is up 10.8%).

The number of homes available to buy on June 1 stood at just over 12,400, up from an all-time low of just 10,000 three months earlier.

Report author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: “Ireland’s housing market has been characterised for a number of years by strong demand, boosted recently by unexpected savings, but supply that has been steadily weakening.

“There are some signs that both sides of the market may be turning. On the supply side, the number of homes listed over the last 12 months has increased by 30% since early 2021, although it still remains 15% below the peak in 2019, while construction of new homes is set to reach a post-Celtic Tiger high this year.

“On the demand side, the rise in interest rates, prompted by inflation, will feed through to housing demand in due course. At the same time, sentiment among those active in the housing market has eased, and expected inflation in housing prices over the next year is less than 1%, compared to more than 5% three months ago.

“Expected inflation is one of the key drivers of immediate housing demand, so if prospective buyers feel they have more time to choose, they may take that opportunity.”