House prices in Louth see annual rise of 7%

Average house prices in Louth in the third quarter of 2022 were 7% higher than a year previously, according to the Daft.ie House Price Report for Q32022, released today.

This compares to a rise of 11% seen a year ago. The average price of a home in Louth is now €269,045, 23% below its Celtic Tiger peak. It also represents an increase of 111% on the trough during the last recession. On a quarterly basis, house prices rose by 1.5% in the third quarter of 2022, compared to the previous quarter.

In the six months to June 2022 there were 211 transactions involving newly built homes in Louth,an increase of 47% compared to the same six month period a year earlier. A snapshot of average asking prices for houses and apartments in Louth and the annual change in asking price is as follows:

• One bed apartment - €123,000 – 20% annual increase
• Two bed terraced house - €153,000 – 10.6% increase
• Three bed semi-detached - €212,000 – 8.9% increase
• Four bed bungalow - €406,000 – 7.3% increase
• Five bed detached house - €403,000 – 4.2% increase

Nationally, housing prices were largely stable between June and September. The average listed price nationwide in the third quarter of 2022 was €311,514, up 0.1% on the average for the second quarter of the year and 16% below the Celtic Tiger peak.

Due to increases in recent quarters, year-on-year inflation remains high at 7.7%, although this is down from 9.2% three months ago. The number of homes available to buy on September 1st stood at nearly 15,500, up 22% on the same date last year and the highest total nationally in almost two years. As of Monday 26 September 2022, there were 432 property lisings for homes in Louth on the Daft.ie website.

Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said:
“Improved stock on the market over the course of 2022 has helped reduce inflationary pressures in the sales market. This is most notably the case in Dublin, where the total number of listings coming on to the market in the year to August was effectively in line with the pre-covid number. “This has helped improve the stock on the market at any one point in time, the key predictor of future price changes.”

He continued: “Elsewhere, while the number of listings and availability has improved, they remain in some markets well below the ten-year average. While weaker demand – due to inflation in other living expenses and to increases in interest rates – may help stabilise prices, the true solution to the high level of housing prices remains significantly increased supply, over years and indeed decades to come.”