Residential property prices rose by 14.4% on an annual basis in December, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
This was up slightly on the 14% annual rate recorded in November and marked the highest annual growth in over six years.
Today’s figures show that residential property prices in Dublin rose by 13.1%, while prices outside Dublin rose by 15.4%.
In Dublin, the price of houses rose by 13.5%, while apartments rose by 11.3%. The highest house price rises in Dublin were in Dublin City at 15%, while the lowest rate was 11.4% in Fingal.
Outside Dublin, the price of houses rose by 15.3%, while apartments rose by 16.9%. The highest house price rises outside Dublin were in the border region at 23.7%, while the lowest annual increase was in the Mid-West at 12.1%.
Dublin residential prices are now 11.3% below their February 2007 peak, while prices outside Dublin are just 5.7% below their May 2007 peak.
The CSO also measures the difference between the rate of price increases in new and existing dwellings on a quarterly basis.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the price of new dwellings rose by 5.1% compared to the last quarter of 2020. The price of existing dwellings rose by 16.7% in the fourth quarter compared to the same time a year earlier.
Today’s figures show there were 5,170 purchases of dwellings in December. That was 3.6% higher than December 2020 and 13.2% higher than in November.
Existing dwellings made up 77.6% of homes purchased while new dwellings made up 22.4%.
In the year to December, first time buyers made up 31.7% of buyers while movers made up 54%. Institutions, investors and housing bodies made up 14.3%.
The median, or mid-point, price of a home nationally was €280,000 in the year to December. In Dublin, that median price rose to €405,500.
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown remains the most expensive region in the country with a median price of €595,000. Longford is the lowest with a median price of €130,000.
The postcode with the most expensive median priced property was D04, Dublin 4, at €695,000. The least expensive postcode remains Clones in Co Monaghan at €80,000.
The scarcity of supply means the burden of higher price pressure is falling on existing properties, which saw prices go up by almost 17% in the last three months of last year compared to the same period in 2020.
New homes went up by 5.1% over the same period, today’s figures show.
“The impact of inflation is being felt across a broad spectrum of goods and services, and property prices are no different,” said Trevor Grant, Chairperson, the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisors.
“However, while the growth in property prices remains strong, we would expect this to slow as the year progresses.”
“This is due to the anticipated increased supply coming on stream, and the Central Bank’s Macro prudential rules kicking in, as exceptions potentially diminish or become harder to obtain, and borrowing power is reduced accordingly.”
Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at Brokers Ireland, said more supply of homes is needed to dampen the level of growth, which is largely confining home ownership to the better off or those with family support.
“There was an improvement with a 42% increase in the number of commencement notices issued for 2021 over 2020, bringing it to 30,724,” she said.
“There is now a race on to see if enough houses can be built in time to stabilise prices before potential interest rate rises could return, further squeezing aspiring home owners.”