Laois 3 bed semi house prices rise by €15,000 in a year

Three bedroom semi-detached houses in Laois are on the market at €15,000 more than they were a year ago.

The latest MyHome Property Price Report shows that average asking prices for a Laois 3-bed semi-detached house, which  include costlier new homes and cheaper older houses, rose by €2,750 between October and December to €215,000.

Asking prices in the popular 3-bed semi segment have risen by €15,000 compared to this time last year. 

On average across all kinds of homes, property prices in Laois held steady for the final quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, the average asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Laois rose by €12,500 over the quarter to €249,500. This price is up by €14,500 compared to this time last year. 

There were 127 properties for sale in Laois at the end of Q4 2024 – a decrease of 7% over the quarter, which the report says explains why houses are being snapped more quickly.

The average time for a property to go sale agreed in Laois after being put up for sale is just two and a half months.  This is faster than the national average of three months, itself an historically short period. 

The report in association with Bank of Ireland, covers October to December 2024, traditionally a quieter time in the housing market.

The median asking price for a property in Laois had stayed at €215,000 since it rose earlier in the year. That includes large and small houses and apartments. This means prices have risen by €7,500 compared with this time last year. 

It found that nationally, one in seven homes were sold for a fifth more than the asking price. 

The author of the report is Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland.

“The message from this report is that pricing has retained its momentum, and has still not softened even as affordability has become stretched through 2024.

“Demand is still fierce in the market and indeed has strengthened as the year has gone on. This demand has been impacted by rising mortgage approval values, and the first-time buyer market is particularly hot," the economist said.

Consistent with the ‘hot’ market only one-in-six (17%) of transactions were settled at discount to the asking price in November, whereas a remarkable 40% were sold at a premium exceeding 10% of the asking price. One-in-seven homes (15%) is still being sold at a premium to the asking price exceeding 20%

Myhome.ie experts predict that house prices will keep rising in 2025. They point to several reasons, the rise in the level of personal savings, a continued shortage of homes, a relaxation of Central Bank mortgage rules, and pay growth. 

They say the average age of a first time buyer has risen by a year to age 36, and that they are spending 28% of their nett incomes on mortgage payments.