Asking prices for Cork houses rising at twice rate in rest of country

Asking prices for houses and apartments for Cork city and county are rising at more than twice the rate of the rest of the country, according to the latest quarterly report from property website, MyHome.ie.

According to the report, which covers the fourth quarter of 2025, the median asking price nationally was €380,000, up from €356,000 during the same period last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.4%.

The median asking price in Cork city and county, combined, was up 11.5% year on year, to €340,000 in Q4 2025. Stripped out, Cork city asking prices were also up substantially, by 7.7%, to €350,000.

During the same period, the previous year, the combined median asking price for Cork city and county was €305,000, while the median city asking price was €325,000.

The median is the centre point in a data set and is considered a better indication of that centre than the mean or average, which can be skewed by large or small values.

Nationally, the pace of asking-price inflation is moderating, the report shows, with prices broadly flat, at 5.4%, in the fourth quarter of 2025, almost identical to the previous quarter.

“Although this is still a solid rate of growth, it marks a noticeable step down from the sharper increases seen earlier in the cycle,” Joanne Geary, managing director of MyHome.ie, said.

“These trends reinforce the sense that the market is ‘pausing for breath’ after a prolonged period of elevated activity.

“Bidding pressure has also eased slightly. The typical home is now selling for 7.4% above the asking price, still high by historical standards, but down from the 8.6% peak recorded in mid-2025.”

The supply of housing remained an issue, Ms Geary said, with just 12,200 properties listed nationally on MyHome.ie at the end of December, but she noted “encouraging signs” on the construction front.

“Residential completions are on track to reach 34,000 this year, the strongest figure since the Celtic Tiger era, even if this still falls short of the long-term requirement of 50,000–60,000 units annually,” she said.

“New-build transaction growth underlines the crucial role of construction in improving medium-term market balance.”

The findings coincide with a Daft.ie report published last week, which showed that Cork house prices had increased more than the national average last year, with homes costing an average of €361,500 in Cork city and €361,143 in Cork county.

The Irish House Price Report, Q4 2025 showed that prices in Cork city were up 7.4% year on year for a semi-detached three-bed home, and 5.7% in Cork county.

According to the Daft.ie list price index, housing prices nationally were 5.5% higher than a year ago.

In Cork city, prices rose last year compared to the year before for every property type, including increasing 7.4%, to €409,000, for a semi-detached three-bed and 4%, to €493,000, for a semi-detached four-bed.