New analysis shows that the country’s stock of houses available for sale is now at the lowest level on record.
The analysis from Sherry FitzGerald shows there were only 14,400 second-hand properties listed for sale nationwide in January.
The estate agents said this represents a 6.7% fall over the past twelve months, with over 1,000 fewer properties available for sale.
Since January 2020, immediately before the Covid-19 outbreak, the stock of second-hand properties for sale has fallen by nearly 30%.
Sherry FitzGerald said that following this further deterioration in in stock, the total volume of properties advertised for sale in January 2022 represented just 0.7% of the overall total private housing stock.
In Dublin, supply is down by 1% on an annual basis, with about 3,150 properties available for sale.
The estate agents said that supply across the four local authorities varied, with Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown & South County Dublin recording increases in supply, while Fingal saw stock advertised for sale deplete by over 12%.
Overall, levels in Dublin remain severely constrained, with just 0.6% of total stock available.
The regional cities have also seen variation in supply levels. Cork city saw a reduction in stock of 12.3%, but Limerick and Galway city recorded increases of 9.6% and 3.7% respectively.
Sligo saw the largest decrease in supply of any county, down 24.5%, closely followed by Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow with decreases of just over 23% each.
Sherry FitzGerald also noted that stock is particularly tight at lower price categories.
The under-€200,000 price category has seen the greatest contraction in supply with just 4,500 such properties available across Ireland. This represents a fall of over 40% in just two years.
Dublin saw the largest deterioration in the sub-€200,000 market.
This price category has seen supply levels fall by 33.5% year-on-year, with just 109 properties of this type available in the capital as of January 2022.
There has also been a decline of almost 9% in the availability of properties for sale in the €500,000 to €750,000 price category in Dublin.
Marian Finnegan, Managing Director of Sherry FitzGerald, said the the imbalance between supply and demand remains the foremost obstacle facing the housing market.
“This is crystalised by the fact that in January, the lowest number of second-hand properties were advertised for sale nationwide since we began recording in 2010. With just 0.7% of stock available for sale nationwide and only 0.6% in the Dublin market, upward pressure on prices is likely to persist in the months ahead,” she cautioned.
Article Source – Housing supply falls to record low level – Sherry FitzGerald – RTE