Cost-of-living concerns and rising interest rates are set to cool the sky-rocketing demand for property, leading to a year of two halves for the market, according to the latest quarterly house price report from MyHome.ie.
The Q2 2022 report, in association with Davy, found that annual asking price inflation slowed to 10.9% nationwide, and was 7.9% in Dublin and 12.7% elsewhere around the country. Meanwhile, the report found quarterly asking price inflation was 5.3% nationally, 3.4% in Dublin, and 6.1% elsewhere.
This paints the picture of regional asking prices fuelling the headline figure; the substantial rise in the quarterly rate is not unusual ahead of the busy summer trading season. This means the median asking price for new instructions nationally is now €320,000, while the price in Dublin is €403,000 and elsewhere is €270,000.
There is continued evidence of vendors returning to the market with the number of available properties for sale on MyHome.ie rising to 12,700 in June 2022 – up from 11,200 in March. Average time to sale agreed in Q1 fell to 2.6 months (and 2.9 months outside Dublin) – both record lows, which are indicative of a very tight housing market.
Average mortgage approval rose to €283,700 – up 9.4% on the year and now above Celtic tiger levels for the first time. Residential property market transactions in the first five months of 2022 are up 7% on 2021 and 6% on 2019. Over 5,000 housing units were completed in Q1 – an encouraging sign.