ASKING PRICES FOR homes nationwide is up 7.3% over the past year, the fastest rate of inflation in close to two years.

That’s according to the Q2 2024 MyHome.ie Property Price Report which has been released today.

The median asking price for a home nationwide in Q2 of this year was €365,000 – that is a quarter-on-quarter increase of 5.1%, and a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

In Dublin, the median asking price is considerably higher, though the rate of change is slightly lower across the year.

The median asking price in Dublin is €465,000, a quarterly increase of 3.3% and a yearly increase of 7.2%.

But excluding Dublin, the inflation is at its highest – the median asking price excluding Dublin is €310,000, a quarterly increase of 6.7% and a yearly increase of 7.6%.

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The report was carried out in association with Bank of Ireland, and its chief economist Conall MacCoille noted that the supply situation “remains very difficult”.

Just 12,500 properties were listed for sale at the end of June, down 11% on 2023’s figures.

There were 9,967 new listings for sale in Q2 of 2024, which is down 4.3% on the same period in 2023.
MyHome.ie stated that this poor supply, in addition to higher average earnings and higher mortgage approval values, is driving asking-price inflation.

As of Q1 of this year, average earnings were €50,300, a rise of 4.7% in the year.

Meanwhile, the average mortgage approval in April was €313,000, up 4.6% in the year.

The report also found that in May of this year, houses were being sold for 6% over the original asking price – the year previous, the premium paid was just 1%.

However, homebuilding activity is positive, with 32,121 housing starts in the first five months of the year.

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“The fierce competition between homebuyers has continued into the second quarter, with residential transactions in May being settled by 6% on average above the original asking price,” said MacCoille.

“The second quarter of the calendar year is particularly important for asking prices, set ahead of the busy summer trading season, before the market cools heading into the winter.

“The momentum in the market means a high single digit gain in the order of 5-6% for the year in full now looks likely.”

Meanwhile, Joanne Geary, managing director of MyHome.ie, said that the “strength of our labour market is of course a positive thing, but without an adequate supply of properties to meet the demand generated by rising incomes, it is inevitable that competition will remain intense”.

“It will take time for the growing rate of housing starts to have a real impact, but it is promising to see this figure move in the right direction.”