Latest Daft.ie reports shows jump in average price of a house in Cork

THE average price of a house in Cork has increased by 14.3% to €303,491 over the past 12 months, according to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report for quarter two of 2021.

The report shows the national average house price is now €284,000, an increase of €34,000 in one year. 

This average is compiled from price increases across all 54 markets in Ireland.

The report highlighted the split between trends in Dublin and the rest of the country.

Dublin prices rose by 8.4% in the year to June, 2021, but increases outside the capital have been roughly twice as large. In Cork, Limerick, and Waterford cities, listed prices were between 14.3% and 15.5% higher in the second quarter of 2021 than a year previously, while in Galway city, prices rose 12.6% in the same period.

Outside the main cities, prices rose by an average of 16.5% year-on-year.

The total number of properties available to buy on June 1 was just above 12,300, up slightly from 11,900 recorded in March but one of the lowest figures recorded since the rise of advertising properties for sale online.

Despite an uptick in listings, Daft.ie reported the total availability of homes for sale nationwide on June 1 was one third lower than the same date a year earlier and just half the amount for sale in June 2019.

Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: “Very weak supply continues to plague Ireland’s housing market."

He added: “Unlike much of the last decade, when urban centres drove house price inflation, the Covid-19 housing market has seen the opposite trend. Inflation is less severe in Dublin than elsewhere and, outside Dublin, less severe in the other cities than the rest of the country.

“While the volume of second-hand homes listed for sale has improved somewhat in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, it remains very weak compared to the pre-pandemic housing market. An easing of lockdown restrictions in the second half of 2021 will help bring second-hand homes back on to the market. But it highlights once again just how important supply is in determining housing prices, given strong demand.

“It also serves as a reminder to policymakers that, when the pandemic subsides, construction of new homes at a far greater scale than in recent years is needed to ensure housing becomes more affordable.”