07-07-2025
Housing prices jump as completions predicted to fall 'well short' of units required
NATIONAL ASKING PRICES are up 7% over the year – with some counties seeing jumps of up to 19%.
MyHome's report, produced alongside Bank of Ireland, on asking prices for homes in Ireland has been released today. It reports on Q2 of 2025.
It shows that asking prices for homes in Galway have reached €350,000 in an increase of close to 13% on the year previous.
In Donegal, asking prices climbed up to 19% to an average of €255,000. In Leitrim, there was an increase of just over 13% since the year previous, with asking prices averaging out to €198,000.
On top of the increase in asking prices across the country, the report also found that typical residential transactions are being settled for 7.5% above the original price. This trend has been driven by several factors, it reported, which include 'significant increases' in both the volume and value of mortgage approvals, persistently inadequate supply, and the loosening of mortgage lending rules.
Meanwhile, the report found asking prices nationally rose by 4% on the quarter, by 2.2% in Dublin and by 5.4% in the rest of the country- meaning the median asking price for new instructions nationally was €395,000 in Q2. In Dublin it was €495,000 and in the rest of the country it was €340,000.
Housing completions
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The average mortgage approval in May was €337,000, up 6.7% on the year, and the average first time buyer borrowed 3.4 times their income in 2024. This is up from 3.2 in 2022.
The report noted that although home completions are likely to improve this year on last year, the supply will still fall 'well short of the demand'.
The author of the report, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland Conall MacCoille, added that alongside higher mortgages and properties for sale tending to be sold for a significantly higher sum than asked, average mortgage approval in may this year was up 6.7% on the year.
The report stated that this was helped by the annual pay growth of 5.6% in the Irish economy. There were 43,070 mortgage approvals in the year to May, up 10.5% on 2024.
One in six properties is sold by 20% or more over asking price, indicating that competition for homes remains fierce.
'Another factor at play is loosening of the Central Bank mortgage lending rules. The average first-time-buyer borrowed 3.4 times' their income in 2024, up from a 3.2x multiple in 2022. This change has pushed up house prices by €15,000 to €20,000,' MacCoille said.
He said that Irish house price inflation is more likely to return to mid-single digit category with a steady proportion – just under 50% – of first time buyers taking out a mortgage between 3.5 to 4 times their income
He said that some improvement in home completions was likely in 2025. 'The '4Dublin Housing Supply Pipeline' figures, the only survey of current homebuilding activity, shows the number of houses under construction in Dublin at end-2024 up 19% on the year.'
The figures indicate that at end-2024 there were 16,260 apartments and 3,185 houses under construction on 188 active sites in the capital, up 24% and 19% respectively on late 2023.
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However, he warned that attention should focus on difficult problems surrounding build costs and the viability of apartment development in Ireland over the medium term.
'Whatever the outcome for housing completions in 2025, it will fall well short of the 50-60,000 units required.'
Newly introduced rent controls would likely serve to eliminate the two-tier rental market, as RTB figures from end-2024 show new tenants were paying on average €240 per month in rent more than those in existing tenancies, MacCoille added.
The average time to sale agreed is now 2.6 months. This is close to a historic low and 'indicative of a very tight market'.
'RTB data indicates average monthly rents were €1,670 at end-2024, up 5.5% on the year – close to the softest pace of rent price inflation in almost four years. Rent reforms will likely mean the pricing gap between new and existing tenancies will be eliminated.'
It was noted that the threat of US tariffs did not put a dent into the demand for housing within the country.
The median asking price for new instructions nationally was €395,000 in Q2. In Dublin it was €495,000 and in the rest of the country it was €340,000.
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