THE average price of a second-hand, three-bed semi in both Cork city and county rose in the past year, with Cork city recording one of the highest average prices for such property.

A survey conducted by Real Estate Alliance (REA) revealed that the average price of a second-hand, three-bed semi in Cork city rose by four percent in the past year.

Three-bed semi-detached home values in Cork city remained at €355,000 during the first three months of 2023, the Q1 REA Average House Price Index shows.

Meanwhile, the average price of a second-hand, three-bed semi in County Cork rose by six percent over the past 12 months.

The REA survey shows that the average cost of three-bed homes in the county remained at €217,500 during the first three months of 2023.

By concentrating on the actual sale price of three-bed semis, the survey provides an up-to-date picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.

First-time buyers in Cork city made up 40 percent of the market during Q1 with five percent of buyers coming from other cities.

In the county, first-time buyers made up 20 percent of the market during Q1 with five percent of buyers moving out of the cities.

The average time taken to complete a sale in both the city and county has not changed since the last quarter of 2022 and remains at five weeks, the survey shows.

“There continues to be good demand from first-time buyers in the new homes market since the start of the year, which is reflected in a general increase in sales and new developments coming on stream,” said Michael O’Donoghue of REA O’Donoghue & Clarke, in Cork city.

“With the first signs of inflation easing, overall demand continues to be good with a mixture of both cash purchasers and mortgage-approved clients. However, housing construction and mortgage activity in 2023 may be affected by building cost pressures and possible interest rate increases in the short-to-medium term,” he added.

“Landlords continue to exit the market. But whilst the level of bidding has slowed somewhat, there remains steady demand in relation to all property types in both the city and surrounding satellite towns.” 

Across the rest of Ireland, the actual selling price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached rose by 0.6 percent over the past three months to €293,343, representing an annual increase of 5.3 percent.

House prices in Dublin recovered after a pre-Christmas fall and rose by 0.5 percent to €498,333 in the past three months, slightly exceeding last September’s prices, an annual rise of 3.5 percent.

Mirroring the capital, cities outside Dublin experienced a 0.4 percent rise to an average selling price of €310,250.

The country’s large towns saw the largest quarterly increase at 1 percent, with prices now averaging €211,776 and properties selling faster at an average of five weeks, than in cities or commuter areas.

Nationally, first-time buyers were 60 percent of the market.