Some 84 per cent of homes on the Dublin market went sale-agreed at or above their asking prices in the first three months of the year, according to estate agency DNG.
Competitive bidding, usually involving “multiple bidders”, for houses and apartments remains prevalent, with strong demand at the entry level running up against low levels of supply, driving prices higher, the property agent said in its latest Dublin house price gauge report.
However, while prices in the capital city continued to rise in the first quarter of 2026, they did so at a slower annual rate than in the final quarter of 2025, the latest figures indicate.
In the 12 months to slightly before the end of March, house prices rose by 4.8 per cent, DNG said. That compares with a rate of 5.2 per cent for the 2025 calendar year and an even more dramatic 9.6 per cent in the 12 months to the end of March 2025.
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On an annual basis, the rate of house price inflation has now fallen in each of the past four quarters.
Still, a majority of homes on the market went sale-agreed at or above their asking price in the first three months of the year, DNG said.
On average, home sales were agreed at 8 per cent above the asking price between January and March.
“We are still witnessing competitive bidding by multiple parties on the vast majority of homes offered for sale so far this year,” DNG chief executive Keith Lowe said.
“The historically low levels of supply coming to the resale market in recent times remain a concern for the residential property market and have resulted in strong competition for available properties, meaning prices are being pushed upwards, particularly for properties in walk-in condition with good energy efficiency ratings,” he said.
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“The supply of newly constructed housing still remains very low; however, it is positive to see strong new home commencements figures in the first quarter of this year, which bodes well for the availability of new homes from 2027 onwards.”
Yet, the decline in the annual rate of inflation is notable and underscores the findings of Daft.ie’s latest housing market report, published last week.
The property website said that Ireland’s housing market was showing signs that the period of “acute overheating” of prices that followed the Covid-19 pandemic was coming to an end.
Prices in urban areas are cooling at a faster pace than in other settings amid increased availability of second-hand homes, the dominant type of unit within Irish cities, said Trinity College Dublin economics professor and Daft report author Ronan Lyons.
The number of second-hand homes for sale increased by 14 per cent in the 12 months to March, according to the Daft data.
However, the level of supply continues to lag demand, particularly among first-time buyers, in Dublin.
First-time buyers acquired 52 per cent of the homes sold in the first quarter of 2026, DNG said on Tuesday.
