THE price of the average second-hand three-bed semi detached house in Limerick City has risen by two per cent to €250,000 in the last three months, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance (REA).
And the survey has shown that 55 per cent of sales in the city are to first-time buyers, with 30 per cent of all purchasers coming from outside the area.
Time to sell across County Limerick sits at three weeks, with 50 per cent of sales to first-time buyers and 43 per cent of buyers from outside the county.
“We are seeing the prices continue to move in an upward trajectory,” said Pat Dooley, director of REA Dooley.
“The supply of new homes and developments are stagnant, and the cost of building remains stubbornly high and growing.
“It seems to becoming more apparent that 2022 will be the year that prices will peak, with the different parameters of possible interest-rate hike and international uncertainty weighing on vendors’ minds.”
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, house prices are increasing at an average of almost €100 a day as the market shows no signs of slowing up in the early months of 2022, the survey has found.
Average house prices rose by 3.16 per cent nationally in the first three months of year, matching the one per cent a month increases experienced during the Celtic Tiger days.
Meanwhile, Limerick Sinn Féin TD, Maurice Quinlivan, has criticised the government housing strategy as the latest Daft.ie House Price Report revealed that residential property prices in Limerick overall have increased by eight per cent in the first three months of this year.
“It is no surprise that there are major issues with overcrowding and homelessness in Limerick City. The dream of affording one’s own home moves further and further away as the months pass by. The average house price in Limerick now stands at €240,655, a year-on-year increase of 7.6 per cent,” he said.
“Prices have predictably increased as supply has decreased. Sale of new homes in Limerick has decreased by 55 per cent since this time last year.”
“Generations of families are living under the one roof as the younger members simply cannot afford to save and rent. My office is contacted almost daily basis by families that earn just above the income threshold (€36,000) that allows you to apply for Council housing or get some assistance via Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), but they earn too little to get a mortgage,” he concluded.
