Laois house price spiralling rise despite supply rise revealed by Daft.ie report

The cost of buying a house in Laois is rising faster than the national average despite an apparent ramping up of home construction in the county, end-of-year figures from Daft.ie reveal.

Housing prices nationally rose by an average of 9% during 2024, according to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report released on January 2 by Ireland’s largest property website, www.Daft.ie

The property website says the typical listed price nationwide in the final quarter of 2024 was €332,109, 1.4% higher than in the third quarter of the year and 30% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report breaks down the figures by county. Prices in the final three months of 2024 were 11% higher in Laois than a year previously, compared to a rise of 2% seen in October, November and December of 2023. The average price of a home is now €258,000, 45% above the level seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A snapshot of home prices in Laois in the final quarter of 2024 shows that the cost of a one-bed apartment is Laois €103,000 which is up 7.9% on the same time in 2023.

A two-bed terraced home will cost you €145,000 which is up 13.2% on the final three months of 2023. A three-bed semi-detached home is averaging at €191,000 to busy which is up 10.8% on October, November and December in 2023. 

A four-bed bungalow cost €366,000 at the end of 2024 which is 5.6% from the end of 2023. Finally at the top of the market, a five-bed detached will set a buyer back €385,000 in Laois. That is up 9.7% from the three months to the end of 2023.

There were just 149 houses for sale on the property website on December 27. They ranged in price from €129,000 for a terraced house in Rathdowney to €1. 2 million for a detached home at Ballagh Castle, Errill. 

Just 12 new homes were listed on Daft.ie for sale in Laois. There were seven apartments listed for sale.

More below map of the county-by-county 2024 house price changes from Daft.ie report

Laois ranks mid-table when compared to neighbouring Leinster counties excluding Dublin in terms of the percentage rate of increase across the year. The rate of rise was was faster than the 11 Leinster counties for the final three months of the year.

On the price front Laois has the second lowest prices in Leinster outside Dublin behind Carlow.

MORE BELOW Leinster market comparison graphic from Daft.ie report.

KEY POINTS IN THE REPORT.

• Housing prices nationally rose by an average of 9% during 2024.
• The typical listed price nationwide in the final quarter of 2024 was €332,109, 1.4% higher than in the third quarter of the year and 30% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Prices rose for the fourth consecutive quarter in Dublin, where the increase of 9% during 2024 matched the national average and marked the highest rate of inflation seen in the city since late 2017.
• Galway city saw a similar increase during the year, while in Limerick city, prices rose by 8.2%.
• In Cork and Waterford cities, average prices rose by 6.3% during 2024.
• Outside the five main cities, inflation ranged from 11.1% in Leinster to 5.3% in Connacht-Ulster.
• The number of second-hand homes available to buy nationwide on December 1st stood at less than 10,500, down 15% year-on-year and the lowest total ever recorded in a series extending back to January 2007.

Find out some of what the report's author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, had to say about the findings below picture.

An Lochán housing development in Summerhill area of Portlaoise.

"The average price of a home listed for sale in Ireland in the final three months of 2024 was just over €330,000. In like-for-like terms, that is 9% higher than in the final three months of 2023. If the goal of policymakers is to ensure stable housing prices, then, this has been the least successful year for policymakers since 2017, when prices rose by roughly the same proportion.

“2024 saw the largest increase in listed prices since 2017. And, unlike earlier in the 2020s, Dublin is now driving price growth, with its rate of inflation ahead of the other cities. This is, once again, a story of weak supply and strong demand. With incomes and employment growing, demand for owner-occupied housing is likely growing at close to 5% per year.

"But while the number of newly-built homes being transacted is increasing, it is growing much more slowly than demand. Further, the increase in new builds has, in recent quarters, been more than offset by a decline in the volume of second-hand homes coming onto the market. While 2022 saw 63,000 second-hand homes listed for sale, there were just 51,000 put on the market during 2024, similar to levels seen during pandemic lockdowns. The new government may look to intervene in the mortgage market, to improve mobility of those with fixed interest rates. But ultimately, the solution remains boosting the volume of homes being built,” he said.

Daft.ie says its report is based on an analysis of the full database of properties posted for advertisement on Daft.ie up to late December 2024. It says average price figures are calculated from econometric regressions using standard methods.