The new data, which was made available by the PSRA last week, shows the exact selling price for homes around the country between January 2010 and the present.
It gives the clearest indicator yet of what state the market is in various areas and backs up the view of the MyHome.ie Barometer that prices in the capital are on the rise, albeit slightly.
What the new property price register does, however, is allow potential buyers to get a sense of what is a fair price for a property in a particular area and the hope is that it will bring more people to the market and give them extra confidence to make a purchase.
The new register will undoubtedly cause a few people to squirm as well as it reveals how people who are now neighbours paid differing amounts for properties on the same street.
There are numerous examples around the country.
Take Belmont Avenue in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, for example. Number 33 sold for €625,750 in May but at the end of August number 31 sold for €510,000. By contrast, last September number 38 sold for €660,000.
Meanwhile in Cork, 36 Wilton Gardens sold for €180,000 in September while number 48 went for €227,000 in March of last year.
In Galway, there was a €50,000 difference between the sales of number 80 Lurgan Park (€190,000) and 93 Lurgan Park (€240,000) – both of which sold in August. At present a 3 bed semi in the estate is on the market for €187,500.
All of that information is useful to a buyer but only if they know the area and houses in question.
While the information supplied is no doubt useful, it doesn’t give a full picture. Two homes in the same area could be greatly different. One could be a four bed, another could be a two bed. One could have an extension, the other might not. One might require refurbishment, the other might be ready to live in.
Yes, the new price register certainly gives us a flavour of what is a fair price but, as yet, it doesn’t quite tell the whole story.
No doubt the likes of MyHome.ie and others will continue working on dissecting the information that the price register has given us in the coming days, weeks and months ahead but for now it far from tells a full story.
Today though, we ask your opinion on the new register. Is it useful and what improvements would you like to see to make it even better?
Have your say below….
