LIMERICK HAD THE biggest jump in house prices of any Irish city over the past three months as the property market outside the capital continued to play catch-up.
Average prices in Limerick city went up 5.1% between March and June, while in Cork city they increased 4.4% and in Galway city they rose 3.8%.
The significant growth compared to an across-the-board rise of only 0.6% in Dublin and an increase of 2.8% outside the major cities.
The latest house price report from Daft.ie also showed house prices either held steady or fell across Dublin, particularly in the most-expensive markets in the city’s south, since the Central Bank brought in new lending caps from February.
Instead buyers continued to be pushed into the commuter counties, some of which have experienced price rises of over 20% in the past year.
The report’s author, economist Ronan Lyons, told TheJournal.ie the property market had “flipped around” from the previous trend of big increases in Dublin while other regions stagnated.
When you look at Munster and Connacht and Ulster, prices there are now going up quite a bit, whereas they would have been static even into this time last year,” he said.
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These were the key figures from the report for Ireland’s major cities:
Dublin city centre, average asking price: €249,337
Year-on-year change: +12.3%
Cork city, average: €210,966
Change: 18.9%
Galway city, average: €207,697
Change: 17.2%
Limerick city, average: €135,593
Change: 11.4%
Waterford city, average: €118,234
Change: 9.3%
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Nationally, the average asking price was €202,000 – up 23% from the low point in mid-2013, but still 45% below the peak of 2007.
House price figures out from the CSO for May, which are based on sales backed by mortgages but exclude cash deals, showed average property costs in Dublin fell over the month while prices outside the capital went up 1.1%.
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Lyons said over the last three months a lot of heat had been taken out of the market as the number of buyers who got mortgage approval before the Central Bank rules came in dwindled.
He said the lending restrictions were “the foundation of a good housing market policy”, although they didn’t answer the underlying problem of a lack of supply that continued to put pressure on prices in key regions.
In this video, Lyons further explains the most recent trends in the Irish property market.
Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.
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