Ronan Lyons, Daft’s in-house economist, commenting on the latest Daft research on the Irish property market.
This latest Daft.ie House Price Report shows some signs of health in the market, amid a broader problem of a chronic lack of supply. The first sign of slightly better health is that the total number of properties actively on the market at any one time has risen, compared to three months previously (June compared to March). This is only the second time in five years that this was the case – the first was the same quarter last year, so it remains to be seen whether this is merely seasonal or the start of a bigger trend.
The second measure of slightly improved conditions in the housing market comes from a comparison of the asking and sale prices. Each property registered as sold on the Property Price Register is, where possible, matched up with a listing in the Daft.ie archives. This allows the inclusion of variables such as property type and size and also enables the calculation of the Transaction Price Index in the report. The trends in this index confirm the more precisely estimated trends in list prices in the 54 markets around the country: largely stable prices in Dublin but still increasing steadily elsewhere, albeit not as fast.