Property prices fall 4% for second quarter

Asking prices for residential properties around Ireland fell by 4.2% during the second quarter of the year, according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie, with Dublin prices falling as high as 5% in the last three months.

According to the website’s report, the national average asking price for property has now fallen 37% since the peak, and currently stands at €220,000. According to Daft economist Ronan Lyons, “evidence from Dublin in particular shows that properties are selling. Almost half the number of properties listed in the capital in January are now sale agreed or sold”

He continued: “While falls in asking prices are slower than last year, the market is still in adjustment and the total stock for sale, particularly outside the main cities remains high.”

In Dublin, residential property prices are now 40% lower than prices seen during the peak, whilst outside the capital, prices are 34% below the peak on average. In Cork and Limerick prices fell by 3% and 2% respectively, with Waterford prices falling by 7%.

The largest falls in the country were reserved for Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, where prices have fallen by an average of 11% in the past six months.

Commenting on the research, economist Lyons concluded: “”Around the country, about 5,000 properties were listed for sale in April. Of these, 15% of properties have already been sold, while a further 10% are sale agreed. This represents a slight slowing down, compared with the first quarter, when 20% of properties listed in January were sold by April 1, with a further 10% sale agreed.”

In his own commentary on Daft’s report, Friends First economist Jim Power stated that the data suggests the housing market remains “weak.”

Power feels that the “lack of adequate credit availability and low levels of buyer confidence due to a variety of factors” is continuing to exacerbate the challenging outlook, concluding that “a little progress” has been made in both the housing market and economy, but considerably more is needed to accelerate our current situation.