Asking prices for houses have risen in Dublin over the past year with south Co Dublin registering a spike, surveys show. Asking prices continued to decline nationally, though at a slower rate than last year, according to reports by property websites Myhome.ie and Daft.ie.

The increase in asking prices in Dublin is more than 5 per cent – the biggest jump in house-price growth in six years, according to the Daft report. South Co Dublin prices are up 12.2 per cent, according to Daft.ie, and 3.9 per cent, according to Myhome.ie.

This is the strongest annual growth recorded nationally since early 2007, says Daft.ie. Myhome.ie recorded a 1 per cent growth in Dublin in the second quarter of this year compared with last year, with average asking prices at €238,000.

Lack of houses
Both surveys put the increase in Dublin down to a lack of houses on the market. Housing stock is down almost 35 per cent compared with the same time last year, though there has been a rise in stock since the start of this year, says Myhome.ie.

Between 2008 and 2011 there was an average of 6,000 houses on the market in Dublin. In 2013 the figure is 3,170, according to Daft.ie. It takes between six and seven months to sell a house in Dublin. “Competition for properties is driving prices in some parts of the city and an increase in the supply would ensure affordability, which has improved dramatically in recent years, remains at a reasonable level,” said Angela Keegan, managing director of Myhome.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times Ltd.

“What compounds the situation for Dublin is that there is no backlog of family homes sitting in ghost estates,” said Ronan Lyons, economist at Daft.ie.

Nationally houses fell 4 per cent over the last year but this compares with a 15 per cent annual decline registered this time last year, according to Draft.ie.

Myhome.ie registered an 8.6 per cent decline nationally compared to a 15 per cent annual decline this time last year.

Sale agreed
In Galway the average time for houses to go sale agreed is six months, in Limerick it is eight months while in Cork and Waterford it is 10 months, the Myhome.ie survey shows.

Stock is dwindling nationally also with an average of 60,000 houses on the market between between 2008 and 2011 compared to 40,000 now.

“With conditions still weak in many parts of the country, it is likely that over the next 12-24 months, we may have to get used to the idea of prices rising in some places, particularly in urban areas, while they fall elsewhere,” said Mr Lyons.