Cost of buying a home in Laois skyrockets to €320,000

The average price of buying a home in Laois has skyrocketed to €320,000, taking a massive €50,000 jump compared to twelve months ago, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). 

The latest CSO Residential Property Price Index for December, published this week, shows the sharp rise in house prices in Laois and across the midlands. The median price of a home in the county stood at €320,000 in December 2025 compared to €270,000 in December 2024.

The Portlaoise Eircode area, which covers the majority of the county, shows average house prices rising from €260,000 in December 2024 to €320,000 in December 2025. 

Nationally, the median price paid for a home last year stood at €387,000. Outside Dublin the highest price was €454,000 in Co Wicklow while Donegal was the lowest at €195,000.The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the Midlands (Laois, Longford, Offaly, and Westmeath) at 14.4%, while at the other end of the scale, the West (Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) saw a rise of 6.4%.

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Commenting on the CSO report Brokers Ireland said the 7% increase while up slightly on the month is down from 8.7% a year earlier. The organisation, that represents mortgage, insurance and financial brokers, said in the overall context this is minimal with aspiring home buyers still operating in a dysfunctional market and as a result are taking on ever greater levels of debt in the form of mortgage borrowing.

Rachel McGovern, Deputy Chief Executive at Brokers Ireland, said the latest increase follows a sustained period of strong price increases.

“This means that the two-thirds of buyers who need mortgages to purchase are taking on higher levels of debt, squeezing affordability," she said. 

“First-time buyers understand very well that they are better off over the longer-term in buying over renting if they can at all afford it, given very high rents, often greater than mortgage repayments.”

But, she said, so many could not achieve it without either family support or state schemes such as the help-to-buy and the first home scheme, and in many cases a combination of all three.