New figures reveal important info for Laois homeowner hopefuls
The report has new information on homes for sale in Laois
Property prices in Laois have stayed steady throughout the last quarter, yet have seen an increase within the last year.
According to the latest MyHome.ie Property Price Report, the median asking price for a property in Laois remains at €210,000.
The report for Q2 2024, in association with Bank of Ireland, shows that the price of a 3-bed semi-detached house in Laois has risen by €10,050 from this time last year.
In contrast, the asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Laois fell by €2,500 over the quarter to €232,500. This price is down by €4,500 compared to this time last year.
At the time this article was written, there were 36 three-bed houses for sale on MyHome.ie in Laois. There were 56 in Offaly, and 64 in Kilkenny.
There were 145 properties for sale in Laois at the end of Q2 2024, meaning an increase of 8% over the quarter.
PICTURED: MyHome.ie's figures for Q2 2024.
The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, said: “The clear message from the Q2 2024 MyHome.ie Property Price Report is that house prices have gained further momentum. Asking prices rose by 5% in Q2 2024, up 7.3% on the year, the highest figure since Q3 2022.
“This represents an acceleration in the pace of annual asking price inflation from 6.5% in Q1 2024. Furthermore, the pick-up in the pace of asking price inflation has been broad based across Dublin (7.2%) and the rest of Ireland (7.6%).”
He said that the sustained strength of the Irish labour market was having a significant effect.
“The 4.7% rise in average earnings to €50,300 in the year to Q1 2024 was always likely to push up house prices.
Indeed, the average mortgage approval in April was €313,000, also up 4.6% on the year.”
He added that the relaxation of the Central Bank mortgage lending rules for first-time buyers had seen the share of first-time buyers with a loan-to-income ratio on their mortgage between 3.5x-4x leap from 6% in 2022 to 36% last year.
“The fierce competition between homebuyers has continued into the second quarter, with residential transactions in May being settled by 6% on average above the original asking price,” he said.
Another factor impacting prices is the continual poor levels of property supply in the market.
“There were just 12,500 properties listed for sale at end-June, still close to the historic low in Q1 2024 and down 11% on 2023.
"To some extent this appears to reflect a hangover from 2023, when reports of falling house prices, stretched affordability and ECB rates led many would-be vendors to incorrectly fear demand was soft.
This trend may reverse but will take time,” Mr MacCoille said.
Managing Director of MyHome.ie Joanne Geary also spoke on the recent report.
“The strength of our labour market is of course a positive thing, but without an adequate supply of properties to meet the demand generated by rising incomes, it is inevitable that competition will remain intense,” she said.
“It will take time for the growing rate of housing starts to have a real impact, but it is promising to see this figure move in the right direction,” the Director finished.