Laois house prices rise in 2023 but the rate of growth slows dramatically

The rate at which house prices are rising in Laois has more than halved according to the latest figures from property website Daft.ie.

The Daft.ie House Price Report for the first three months of 2023 shows that in Laois, prices in the first three months of 2023 were 4% higher than a year previously. A rise of 11% was seen from January to March in 2022.

With significant house building taking place in Laois focused in Portlaoise, the latest report also reveals that the average price of a home is now almost €236,000, 17% below its Celtic Tiger peak in the county.

A snapshot of home types shows that the average cost of a one-bed apartment Laois is now €104,000 which is 13% up on last year. The asking price on a two-bed terraced house is €125,000 up 1%.

A three-bed semi-detached is attracting average price of €179,000 up 7% on 2022. A four-bed bungalow will have an asking price of €341,000 which is also 7% year-on-year.

Finally, at the top end of the price range, a five-bed detached will have an average asking price of €330,000 a fall of 2% on 2022.

Prices fell 0.5% in Leinster, outside Dublin, in the first quarter of 2023, the first time since mid-2020 that prices fell across the 11 counties.

The report says the average list prices on Laois year-on-year change was up by 3.5% to €235,768. The quarter on quarter change was nearly -1%. The median price of a newly built house in Laois was €300,000 by the end of March - that's nearly €90k below the average.

There were just over 3,400 properties on the market in Leinster (outside Dublin) on March 1, up 40% on the same date a year ago. Transactions up 12%.

Nationally, Daft.ie say the housing prices fell by 0.3% in the first three months of 2023. It says that's the first time in a decade that there was a first-quarter fall in listed prices.  The average listed price nationwide in the first quarter of 2023 was €308,497, 2.7% above the same period in 2022 and 17% below the Celtic Tiger peak. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

During the first three months of the year, prices in Dublin were on average 0.4% lower than in the final three months of 2022, and in Cork city they were 0.5% lower. In Limerick city, prices were stable quarter-on-quarter, while Galway and Waterford cities saw larger quarterly falls – of 1.5% and 0.8% respectively. Outside the cities, prices in Leinster and in Connacht-Ulster fell by roughly half a percentage point, but they rose in Munster, by 0.6%. 

The number of homes available to buy on March 1 stood at just 13,000, up 30% on the same date last year but still significantly below the 2019 average of 24,200. In all parts of the country, the rate at which availability has increased has slowed in recent months.

Commenting on the report, author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: “The change in market conditions over the last 12 months is clear from the figures in this latest Daft.ie House Price Report. A year ago, double-digit inflation in housing prices was still prevalent across much of the country. Now, very few markets are seeing prices more than a percentage point or two higher than a year ago – and those increases largely reflect increases seen March-June last year.

"But while demand has weakened, the post-covid recovery in supply also appears to be weakening, in both new and second-hand segments. Thus, while this year is unlikely to bring any substantial increases in housing prices, underlying issues stemming from housing shortages will persist,” he said.

Average list price and year-on-year change – major cities, Q1 2023 

• Dublin City: €423,593 – up 1.5%
• Cork City: €323,728 – up 1.2%
• Galway City: €345,880 – up 2.5%
• Limerick City: €248,881 – up 3.0%
• Waterford City: €224,138 – up 2.2%
• Rest of the country: €259,567 – up 3.7%

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The Daft.ie Report is based on an analysis of the full database of properties posted for advertisement on Daft.ie up to late March 2023.