Property prices rise 7% nationwide in 12 months, new report shows

House prices nationally have risen by 7 per cent over the past 12 months and asking prices are now 50 per cent higher than they were in 2013, according to the latest report from property website Daft.ie.

It found that since 2013, asking prices for a house in Dublin are now 67 per cent higher.

In the first three months of the year asking prices have increase by more than 2 per cent bringing the current national asking price to €247,000.

In Dublin house prices have increased by 2.3 per cent in the first three months of 2018, bringing the average price to €368,356.

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This is €145,000 up compared with the lowest point in 2013.

A previous property report from the CSO in March showed house price growth of 12.5 per cent on average increase over the past 12 months. In some areas, prices rose by more than 17 per cent.

According to the most recent Daft.ie report, during the first quarter 53 out of 54 areas examined showed an increase in prices with Monaghan the only area where there was a decrease in prices.

Over the last 12 months only Donegal has seen house prices drop.

The report, by, Trinity College economist Ronan Lyons, says an ongoing lack of supply is the reason prices are continuing to rise.

"The picture of the housing market in Ireland currently remains one of strong demand and very tight supply pushing up prices," Mr Lyons said.

He said “during a five-year period when consumer prices did not change, housing prices rose by 50 per cent. This is an indication of how inadequate housing supply is”.

He did highlight some points for cautious optimism including an increase in transaction volumes and an increase in the number of houses offered for sale in Dublin.

However, he said Ireland was in the middle of a century-long process of moving from rural households occupied by roughly four people to an urban society with two people in each household.

To address this demographic shift there needs to be a sharp increase in the supply of houses around cities - predominantly in apartment form.

He said this change was simply not happening quickly enough.

Last year planning permission was only granted for approximately 5,000 apartments, nationwide and for only 20,000 dwellings in total.

Mr Lyons says this is less than half the likely demand.

“It is often said that the mantra in the housing market is ‘location, location, location’. For housing policy in Ireland, it needs to be ‘supply, supply, supply’,” he said.

On a per city basis the price increases over the last 12 months are:

Dublin: €368,356 + 8.4%

Cork: €261,494 + 1.7%

Galway: €273,466 + 3.1%

Limerick: €180,670 + 3.7%

Waterford: €164,930 + 7.5%