Property market in Galway recovering more quickly than Dublin

The property market in Galway bounced back strongly last year with transactions and cash generated by sales climbing by 25 per cent when compared to 2012, according to an analysis of the Property Price Register.

There were some 1,500 sales in Galway city and county last year, a rise of 32 per cent on the 1,170 transactions recorded a year earlier.

The market grew at almost twice the pace recorded in Dublin, where transactions rose 17 per cent last year.

The research, carried out by Irish Times -owned property website MyHome.ie, also found that €242.5 million was spent on property in Galway last year, an increase of 25 per cent on 2012.

"It's clear the property market turned a corner in 2013 and the increase in transactions and in transaction values in both the city and county is most welcome," said MyHome.ie managing director Angela Keegan.

However, she sounded a note of caution when she warned that, like Dublin city, Galway was suffering from a shortage of suitable stock and the increases were coming off a low base.

She added that if supply shortages could be addressed quickly, Galway could avoid the kind of price increases witnessed in Dublin recently.

The biggest sale last year was €2.1 million for a development on Moneenageisha Road in the city, while the most spent on a single property was the €1,020,000 for a property on Threadneedle Road, Salthill.

At the other end of the scale, three properties in Gort, Ballinasloe and Portumna sold for €10,000.

While the cheapest property may have been sold in Gort, the town also recorded the biggest sales increase with transactions going from 25 in 2012 to 66 last year, up 164 per cent.

Other towns which saw significant increases were Ballinasloe, which went from 63 to 95, up 51 per cent; Tuam which went from 63 to 90, a rise of 43 per cent; and Clifden which went from 16 to 27, an increase of 69per cent.