House price growth has eased in the second half of 2022, according to the latest report by property website Daft.ie.
The average cost of a home in the final quarter of 2022, based on prices listed on Daft.ie, was 309,941 euro, down 0.4 per cent on the average for the third quarter of the year and 16 per cent below the Celtic Tiger peak.
The average price listed in the third quarter was €311,514, which was up 0.1 per cent on the second quarter average.
Over the whole of 2022, house prices rose by 6.1 per cent, which compares with an 8.1 per cent jump in 2021, a 7.7 per cent rise in 2020 and a fall of 1.2 per cent in 2019.
The number of homes available to buy on December 1 stood at just over 15,200, up 33 per cent on the same date last year and far below the 2019 average of 24,200.
The median price of a newly-built home in the first nine months of 2022 was just over 370,000 euro, up 6 per cent on the same period in 2021.
The increase in availability on the market has been greatest in Leinster, which is up 51 per cent, and smallest in Munster, up 19 per cent.
The average price for a house in Dublin city is now at €425,560, according to the Daft.ie report – up 5 per cent on the 12 months previous.
In Cork city, house prices are at €324,840 on average, 3.3 per cent more expensive than a year ago, while Galway city saw the highest annual increase at 8 per cent, with the average cost of buying a home at €350,541.
Waterford city has an average house price of €225,465, up 6.4 per cent according to the report, while Limerick city is up 5.4 per cent with an average house-price cost of €248,531.
In all areas outside the cities, prices rose by 7.1 per cent, bringing the cost of a home to an average of €260,737.
Commenting on the report, author and economist Ronan Lyons said: “2022 started with a continuation of the significant upward pressure on prices seen during the second half of 2020 and in 2021.
“However, the year ends with prices falling, albeit modestly, in the final quarter.
“While supply has increased, availability is still tight, indicating that the change in market conditions is more likely driven by a change in the strength of demand. We can see this with expected inflation, which has hit its lowest level since the outbreak of Covid-19, suggesting uncertainty on the part of demand.
“Overall, with supply recovering and demand softening, it is unlikely that 2023 will see prices gains similar the last three years.”
The marginal fall in house prices in the final quarter of the year mirrors a trend that has emerged in recent years.
In each year from 2014 to 2018, prices rose in each of the first three quarters and fell in the final one.
Despite this trend, prices have risen for eight consecutive quarters from mid 2020 to mid 2022 – the longest run of increases since Daft.ie began tracking prices in 2006.
The report also notes that projections for house price growth are at 0.2% in December – the weakest expected increase since 2020.
