Major surge in Laois house prices revealed in new Daft.ie

Laois house prices have spiralled upwards by nearly 20% according to the latest house price figures from Daft.ie.

The Daft.ie House Price Report for the second quarter of 2025 shows that the average cost of buying a new house is up 17% higher than a year previously, compared to a rise of 4% seen in the 12 months to March 2024. The average price of a Laois home is now €284,000, 60% above the level seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The price is also up by 5% on the €270,000 recorded for Laois homes for the first three quarters of the year.

The report also reveals that the rate of house price inflation is highest in the Midlands, with the cost of buying up by 16.5% in Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath.

The Daft.ie report provided to the Leinster Express/Laois Live analyses trends in the residential sales market from April to June. It reveals rapid growth in the type of homes in Laois.

A one-bedroom apartment now costs €118,000 on average in the county, which is a 30.6% rise on the same time last year.  A two-bed terraced home is selling at €154,000 - up 17.3% on last year. 

The slowest growth rate is for three-bedroom semi-detached homes, which cost €204,000, but this is up 13.9% compared to 12 months ago. 

Buyers face average asking prices of €412,000 for a four-bedroom bungalow - up 18.5% on last year. Finally, a five-bed detached home is attracting an average price of €427,000 in Laois, which is 21.4% higher than in 2024. MORE BELOW GRAPHIC.

Neighbouring Offaly, where the average price is €298,502, had the fastest year-on-year change - 17.5% - in Leinster. At €454,929, Wicklow has the highest average asking price outside Dublin in Leinster. In the rest of Leinster, the annual increase in prices is 14.3%.

Daft.ie says that nationally, housing prices rose by an average of 3% during the second quarter of 2025. The typical listed price nationwide in the second quarter of the year was €357,851, 12.3% higher than a year previously and 40% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A statement says the current rate of inflation in the market is the highest seen in the past ten years since mortgage market rules were introduced. The surge in inflation is relatively broadly based, with the Dublin figure (12.3%) in line with the average for the rest of the country.

Daft.ie says the strong increases in housing prices is related, once again, to very tight supply. It says the number of second-hand homes available to buy nationwide on June 1 stood at close to 12,100. This is largely unchanged from the figure a year ago and less than half the pre-covid average of almost 25,000.

Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics Trinity College Dublin, is the report's author. He commented on the findings nationally in a statement to the Leinster Express / Laois Live. MORE BELOW GRAPHIC.

“The fastest increase in housing prices since mortgage market rules were introduced a decade ago highlights the importance of addressing Ireland’s chronic and worsening housing shortage. The substantial increases over the past year in almost all parts of the country are linked to the lack of second-hand supply. This in turn is related to the increase in interest rates earlier in the decade.

As interest rates come down and mortgage-holders come off their fixed rate terms, the picture for second-hand supply will improve. There are already some tentative signs in Dublin of an increase in second-hand supply. Nonetheless, the second-hand market is only part of the solution. Ultimately, policymakers have to address their failure to recognise and provide the framework for enough new homes each year.”

The Daft Report was first launched in 2005 and is seen as one of the barometers of the property market. It combines information from the Daft.ie archives with data from Ireland’s Residential Property Price Register.