Recently, the Central Statistics Office issued the Residential Property Price Index for the month up to September 2023 indicating that nationally prices have risen by 1.4%. The increase in the property prices is driven by properties outside Dublin because the capital, when segmented from the rest of the country, is showing a decrease in prices of 1.9%.
The figures released monthly by the CSO showcase an increase from 0.9% growth nationally for the 12 months to August 2023, so the recent data up to September indicates growth in prices across the country. In contrast, Dublin as a standalone area and its decrease of 1.9% in prices was a repeat of the 1.9% decrease seen in the 12 months to August 2023.
Stats from the CSO Index release go on to document that up to September 2023, the median price of a property was €320,000. The highest median price was €635,000 in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Helen O’Keeffe, Director of Auctioneera Estate Agency who sell property across Dublin said in reaction to the CSO release “In 2022, many borrowers were getting mortgage interest rates of as low as 2%. Now, the minimum is 3.6% and that’s for a special green rate mortgage but many rates are even higher. As a result of these higher interest rates, the buying power of the average couple is noticeably impacted and unfortunately, we have no insight as to when that will change – recently financial experts mentioned that it could be towards the end of 2024 before the European Central Bank reduces interest rates. In terms of housing supply, there is still a shortage across the country and the Banking & Payments Federation issued research last month indicating first-time-buyer mortgage drawdowns were at a 16-year high. We’re seeing this borne out by continued high attendance figures at viewings of our residential sales properties across the city. So, it’s likely that this continued reduction in the rate of growth and even the decrease in prices specifically in Dublin, as shown in this CSO release for the 12 months up to September of this year may continue. In Dublin anyway, it appears that we’ve reached the upper limits of the market and there is no upside from here. For buyers, that might be some good news, but those heightened mortgage rates will continue to be a concern; for sellers, it might be further incentive to put their properties on the market sooner rather than later!”
