Galway House Price Survey Jan 2021

The price of the average three-bed semi in Galway city is expected to rise by 8% in the next 12 months, according to a survey by Real Estate Alliance.

Prices increased by €5,000 between September and December, a rise of almost 2%, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.

Three-bed semi-detached homes in the city now cost an average of €290,000, up nearly 3% on the December 2019 average of €282,500.

And as demand outstrips supply, the time it takes to sell has halved to four weeks by the end of Q4 2020 compared to the eight weeks it took to sell in September.

Meanwhile in county Galway, the price of the average three-bed semi is expected to rise by 4% in the next 12 months, with prices increasing by €5,000 (3%) in the final quarter of 2020.

Three-bed semi-detached homes in the county now cost an average of €170,000, up 3% on the December 2019 average of €165,000.

And homes are selling faster, taking six weeks for sale agreed at the end of Q4 2020 compared to 10 weeks in September.

“Q4 has demonstrated the resilience of the Galway residential market, with demand continuing to far outstrip supply,” said Kevin Burke of REA McGreal Burke in Galway City and Loughrea.

“This has primarily shown in a decrease in the time when listing properties to achieving sale agreed.

“Demand continues in all sections of the market where purchasers are trading up to a larger property, and any property with home office potential is continuing to attract attention.

“We are seeing a marked rise in purchasers returning home. These ‘boomerang buyers’ are upwardly mobile young people working in cities who return to their rural home every weekend.

“Now that they can work from home, they are buying in these provincial and rural areas.

Galway City and suburbs have performed strongly in the past couple of months according to Alan McKenna of REA Halnon McKenna, Galway City.

“All properties that we have listed have sold within a matter of weeks, and we have also agreed a number of 'off market' sales of good quality properties. Presentation and accurate pricing are the key to a successful sale,” he said.

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

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%.

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.