Cork house prices on the increase again with average now almost €400k for second-hand three-bed semi

House prices have risen again in both Cork city and county, according to separate new reports by both Real Estate Alliance (REA) and Daft.ie.

An REA survey shows that the price of the average second-hand, three-bed semi in Cork city has increased to €395,000 — up 1.3% from €390,000 in the last three months — with time to sell currently at an average of four weeks.

Prices in Co Cork increased even further in the same time period, by 1.6% to €235,458 from €231,750 at the end of 2024, and the average time taken to sell currently sits at five weeks.

The REA Average House Price Index concentrates on the sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, to give an overview of the second-hand property market countrywide.

It also shows that a total of 15% of sales in Cork city and 20% across Cork county this quarter can be attributed to landlords leaving the market.

Social Democrats TD for Cork East Liam Quaide told The Echo that the increases were worrying. 

“The continuing increase of house prices is a further illustration of a broken housing system. We can’t build houses fast enough because of decades of over-reliance on the private market and poor development of water infrastructure,” he said.

“The Government hasn’t provided Cork County Council with enough funding to implement the tenant-in-situ scheme or to address the rampant problem of vacancy and dereliction.

“We need a serious change in approach to housing policy, empowering councils and non-profit housing bodies to build more on public land, and much stronger incentives and penalties to bring vacant and derelict properties back into use.”

Meanwhile, the latest Daft.ie House Price Report also shows that house prices in general rose by an average of 3.7% across Ireland during the first three months of the year.

Average prices in Cork city were up 9.2% from the year previous to €358,676.

The number of second-hand homes available to buy nationwide on March 1 was just under 9,300, down 17% year-on-year, marking the only three months since 2007 where there were fewer than 10,000 second-hand homes available.

Labour Party TD for Cork North Central Eoghan Kenny said that the price increases are “stark”.

“It is next to impossible to gain access to an affordable house in Ireland, these prices are not affordable and do not coincide with the average income of an ordinary worker. We need to see direct State investment to provide social and affordable homes,” he said.