The rate of increase in residential property prices nationally continued to slow during the final month of last year, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office.
In the year to the end of December, prices across the country rose by 7.8%, down from 8.5% in the twelve months to the end of November and from 14.2% in the same month a year earlier.
In the capital, prices on average climbed by 6%, while outside of Dublin they increased by 9.3%.
Houses in Dublin increased by 6.1% over the period, with apartments appreciating in price by 5.4%.
Across the remainder of the country, house prices recorded a 9.6% increase and apartments 5.3%.
The strongest growth in the capital was recorded in south Dublin, at 11%.
The west was the region with the highest level of price increases outside of Dublin, where a 14.9% rise was seen compared to a year earlier.
The median price for a residential property in the 12 months to December 2022 was €305,000.
The highest median was €625,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown while the lowest was €152,000 for a dwelling in Longford.
December saw a slight increase in the level of activity, with 5,213 dwelling purchases by households filed with the Revenue Commissioners, up 0.8% compared on the same month a year ago.
The price of new dwellings in the last three months of last year were 10% higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
While prices of existing dwellings were 8.3% higher than in the same three months of 2021.
Brokers Ireland said despite the gradual reduction in the rate of increase in prices, there is little or no prospect of any dramatic downward change in house prices, given high demand and inadequate supply.
“To have any hope of turning around this dire situation, which has been responsible for societal change not seen in decades, and which is impacting the social and financial wellbeing of swathes of our population, and will continue to do so for years to come, we need the Government to bring in a set of unprecedented policy measures that will see more homes built at affordable prices,” said Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at Brokers Ireland.
Trevor Grant, chairman of the Association of Irish Mortgage Advisors, agreed that supply remains the issue.
“The volume of new homes completed exceeded expectations in 2022, but they are still not keeping pace with the demand, never mind making up for the lack of completions in previous year,” he said.
“We’re now looking at a potential slowdown in the volume of new home construction in 2023 so, it’s difficult to see how the growth in house prices could reverse in the near future.”
“Demand will continue to outstrip supply in 2023 as, even with the interest rates increases, it is still cheaper for most to buy rather than to rent.”
Article Source: House price growth slows to 7.8%, down from 8.5% – CSO – Will Goodbody – RTE