House prices rose by average of 3.8% in second quarter of 2024

Housing prices nationally rose by an average of 3.8% in the second quarter of 2024, according to the latest report.

Daft.ie released its House Price Report on Monday which shows that the typical listed house price nationwide in the second quarter of 2024 was 340,398 euros.

This is 6.7% more than in the same period a year earlier and 35% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report shows that while the increase in the second quarter was broadly based, there remain notable differences in price trends across the country.

In Dublin, prices in the second quarter of the year were 4.7% higher than a year previously while in Cork and Waterford cities the increase was closer to 10%.

In Galway and Limerick cities, prices were more than 12% higher year-on-year.

A similar pattern holds for the rest of the country.

In Leinster, outside Dublin, prices were up 6.1% year-on-year, while in Munster the increase was 10.4% and in Connacht-Ulster 6.2%.

But while almost all regions saw inflation tick up, compared to previous quarters, in Connacht-Ulster inflation is cooling slightly.

The number of second-hand homes available to buy nationwide on June 1 stood at just over 11,350, down 18% year-on-year and less than half the 2015-2019 average of almost 25,000.

Since the start of the year, there have been consistently fewer than 12,000 second-hand homes available to buy.

The only other time the market has been as tight, in a series extending back to 2007, is the period January-May 2022, according to the report.

Author Ronan Lyons, an economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: “Over the past 20 years, a clear pattern has emerged in both sale and rental markets: when availability is tight, prices are pushed upwards.

“Availability in the sales market has been consistently tight since the start of the year and thus it is not surprising that prices nationally recorded their largest three-month increase since 2020.

“In part, tight availability of second-hand homes reflects the impact of significant interest rate increases.

“As rates come down again, and in particular as sitting homeowners come off fixed-rate mortgages, supply should improve.

“This, however, is likely to take time and thus tight conditions may continue for some time.”