Property prices across the Republic of Ireland fell for the first time in almost three years in January as higher interest rates and broader cost-of-living pressures curbed activity in the market.
The Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) latest Residential Property Price Index shows prices fell on a monthly basis by 0.6%. This was the first monthly decline since May 2020.
The figures show the annual index in property prices fell to 6.1% in January. This was down from 7.7% in December and from a high of 15.1% in February and March last year.
Year-on-year inflation in Dublin fell to just 4.3% in January while on a monthly basis prices were down by 1.1%. Prices in the capital have been falling on a monthly basis since October.
The highest house price growth in Dublin was in South Dublin at 9.8%, while Dublin City saw a rise of 1.3%.
Outside Dublin, house prices were up by 7.6% and apartment prices rose by 4.8%. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the Border (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo) at 10.1%, while at the other end of the scale, the Mid-West (Clare, Limerick, Tipperary) saw a 6.7% rise.
In January, 3,675 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners, up by 4.4% compared with the 3,519 purchases in January 2022.
The median price of a dwelling purchased in the 12 months to January 2023 was €305,000. The lowest median price paid for a dwelling was €151,500 in Longford, while the highest was €630,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
The most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to January 2023 was A94 'Blackrock' with a median price of €755,000, while F35 'Ballyhaunis' was the least expensive at €127,500.
Commenting on the property transactions by non-household entities in 2022, Viacheslav Voronovich, Statistician in the Prices Division of the CSO, said: “In 2022, non-household entities purchased 13,519 dwellings at market prices, an increase of 15.1% on the 11,749 purchases made by them in 2021. The total value of the purchases by non-household entities in 2022 was €4.6 billion, an increase of 31.8% on the 2022 value.
Non-household entities belonging to NACE sector K: Financial & Insurance purchased residential dwellings with a total value of €1,562.6 million in 2022, more than in any other NACE sector. Sector O,P,Q: Public/Education/Human Health/Social Work was the second largest buyer, with the total value of dwelling purchases of €1,334.3 million.”
