House prices in Mayo rise by six percent

Anton McNulty

THE average price of a house in Co Mayo is now €122,000, ten percent above its lowest point according to the latest report on house prices in the country.
The latest House Price released by property website, Daft.ie, show that house prices in Mayo rose by an average of six percent percent in the last year compared to an national average of 8.5 percent.
This national average hides a significant difference between Dublin, where prices rose by just 2.7 percent, and the rest of the country, where the average increase was 13.1 percent. The national average asking price in the final quarter of 2015 was €204,000, compared to €188,000 a year ago and €164,000 at its lowest point in early 2013.
In Mayo, prices between October and December 2015 were 6 percent higher than a year previously, compared to a rise of 3 percent seen a year ago. The average house price is now €122,000, 10 percent above its lowest point.
The total stock of properties for sale is now at its lowest point in nearly nine years, with just over 25,000 properties for sale nationwide. A year ago, there were nearly 30,000 properties on the market and the bulk of the reduction comes from outside the five main cities.
In Galway, the price of housing has risen by 19.7 percent, compared to a rise of 16.3 percent in 2014. The accelerated rise in house prices was matched in other cities outside Dublin with prices in Cork rising by 20.7 percent while in Waterford city, inflation has increased significantly to 18.6 percent, from 4.1 percent a year ago.
The most dramatic change occurred in Limerick city where prices have risen by 22.3 percent in the last 12 months. A year ago, prices were still falling by 1.3 percent year-on-year but prices in the city are now back at mid-2012 levels. Elsewhere in the country, inflation has accelerated from 8.8 percent in 2014 to 12.1 percent in 2015.
Commenting on the figures, author of the Daft.ie report Ronan Lyons said the dramatic slowdown in Dublin house prices in 2015 shows how effective the Central Bank rules have been.
“This has not been the case elsewhere in the country as house prices are lower relative to incomes and thus the new rules have not been as binding. Some have criticised the new rules as hindering new housing supply but the solution to a lack of supply is not stimulating demand even more. If supply is lacking, the solution to this must be found in reducing construction costs, not in giving borrowers access to potentially dangerous levels of mortgage credit,” he said.