Cork City House Price Survey Jan 2021

The price of the average three-bed semi in Cork city is expected to rise by 5% over the next 12 months, according to a survey by Real Estate Alliance.

Prices increased by €5,000 between September and December to €325,000, a rise of 1.6%, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.

And as supply struggles to keep pace with demand, the time taken to sell the average house in the city fell from ten weeks in September to eight weeks at the end of Q4 2020.

The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland's typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an up-to-date picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.

“Overall, demand continues to be relatively strong with a mixture of both mortgage approved and cash purchasers, but lack of stock coming to the market remains an issue,” said Michael O’Donoghue of REA O’Donoghue and Clarke, Cork.

“In our opinion, the market at this point is quite stable with steady demand overall for various property types throughout the city and county.”

“We would see a possible increase of 5% in 2021 but this is dependent on both Brexit and the impact of the pandemic throughout the year.”

Prices in Cork county increased by €1,000 between September and December, a rise of 0.6%, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.

Three-bed semi-detached homes in the county now cost an average of €179,750, up 2.1% on the December 2019 average of €176,000.

Nationally, average house prices rose by almost 1.5% over the past three months in a market fuelled by a combination of record mortgage approvals and an unprecedented lack of supply, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index found.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by more than €3,000 over the past three months to €239,194 – an annual increase of 1.9%.

The biggest rises in Q4 came in Ireland’s secondary cities and the commuter counties – both of whom had experienced the least movement in prices over the preceding 18 months.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in Dublin City rose by 0.6% to €431,833 during the past three months, an annual increase of 1.41%.

Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford cities shared a combined increase of 2.4% in the past 12 weeks with prices rising by €6,000 to an average of €262,500.

Commuter counties are now feeling the benefit of the migration towards space and home working potential, with three bed semis rising 2.2% by almost €6,000 on the Q3 figure to an average of €253,111.

Reflecting the flight to rural locations, prices in the rest of the country’s towns rose by 1.2% in 12 weeks to €165,397.