Demand for housing nationally is up by 17 per cent on this time last year while demand in Dublin is up by 34 per cent, according to property website Daft.ie. To assess the demand, the site looks at the growth and change in the number of inquiries related to property listings on its website.
The company estimated that demand for new homes specifically rose up by 114 per cent in the 12 months to May this year. Homes with a listed price of €400,000-€600,000 had the largest increase in demand of 38 per cent. New homes within the price bracket of €400,000-€500,000 marked the strongest surge in demand of 1,783 per cent, Daft said.
While demand for homes between €200,000-€400,000 have risen 24 per cent, homes listed between €600,000-€800,000 grew by 20 per cent compared with this time last year.
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Daft said demand for homes rose in 18 of the 26 counties. Similar to the growth seen in Dublin (+34 per cent), demand was up in Meath (+29 per cent), Limerick (+26 per cent), Offaly (+26 per cent) and Louth (+25 per cent). The figure was 13 per cent in Cork and 9 per cent in Galway.
Demand for new homes in these three cities was also up with Galway showing the highest demand for new homes nationally (+160 per cent).
Daft said the figures showed demand for homes has strengthened year on year. “The other side of the equation, however, not covered here is supply, and the supply in the sales market in Ireland over the course of the last 12 months was not one where supply was adequate to meet demand,” it said. “The Irish housing market is in desperate need of increased supply over years and indeed decades to come.”
Construction activity
Separate figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), published on Thursday, showed the volume of production in construction rose by 7.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous quarter and was up 2.8 per cent on an annual basis.
However, the CSO noted that compared to pre-pandemic levels the volume of construction activity was still down over 13 per cent. However, the value of construction has gone up by 4.6 per cent, reflecting the rising cost of materials.
The agency’s data indicates that all sectors recorded a quarterly increase in volume terms when compared with the previous quarter. Non-residential building rose by 12.9 per cent, residential building by 7.1 per cent, and civil engineering by 4.6 per cent.
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There has been concern that the sudden uptick in construction costs could jeopardise the Government’s housing targets. The Coalition’s Housing for All plan promises up to 33,000 units a year out to 2030. But the CSO’s figures suggest activity is still relatively strong.
The latest Residential Property Price Index shows house price inflation continues to slow in the face of higher interest rates and broader cost of living pressures.
The index showed prices nationally increased by 3.9 per cent in the 12 months to March this year, down from an annual rate of 5.1 per cent in February.
