SLIGO HOUSE PRICES JUMP 13% IN YEAR
THE AVERAGE asking price of a house in Sligo has risen by 13.8% in the last 12 months, which is slightly ahead of the national average of 13%, according to a report this week.
According to the latest Daft.ie sales report, released on Monday, the average price nationwide in the second quarter of 2021 was €284,313 3% higher than in the first quarter, meaning prices have risen for four consecutive quarters for the first time since 2014. The annual rate of inflation in house prices is at its highest since early 2015. Meanwhile, a national survey by Real Estate Alliance shows the price of the average three-bed semi in County Sligo has risen 1.7% to €152,500 in the last three months. According to the REA survey prices in Sligo town this quarter remained steady at €185,000, with prices in Tubbercurry rising 4.4% to €120,000.
Roger McCarrick of REA McCarrick & Sons of Sligo and Tubbercurry and the author of the Daft.ie report Ronan Lyons agree that the main driver of house prices is the shortage of homes. Mr McCarrick said: “Lack of supply is the dominant feature in Sligo, with very little newbuilds happening any place in the county.”
He said limited employment opportunities were also a factor in more rural areas.
And he has seen demand for houses in Sligo coming from outside of the county. “We have seen a rise in the level of enquiries for rural or fixer-up properties coming from the greater Dublin area and abroad,” he said.
The REA survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland’s typical stock home, the three-bed semi, which the REA auctioneers say gives an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.
The marketplace is also seeing the lowest supply and the shortest time taken to sell in recent history, according to the REA.
As multiple buyers bid for scarce supplies, the average three-bed semi is now reaching sale agreed after just four weeks on the market across the country – less than half the 10-week average this time last year.
The survey found that average house prices have risen by almost €1,000 per week nationwide since the end of March.
Meanwhile, the Daft.ie report, which is based on the asking price of properties on the website, shows an average house price for Sligo of €163,608, a rise of 13.8% in the 12 months to June.
However, Sligo house prices are low in national terms, with only Roscommon (€162,943), Longford (€162,128) and Leitrim (€145,977) having lower prices.
Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, said: “Very weak supply continues to plague Ireland’s housing market. Unlike much of the last decade, when urban centres drove house price inflation, the Covid-19 housing market has seen the opposite trend. Inflation is less severe in Dublin than elsewhere and, outside Dublin, less severe in the other cities than the rest of the country.”
He said that while the volume of second-hand homes listed for sale has improved in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, it remains very weak compared to the pre-pandemic housing market.
“An easing of lockdown restrictions in the second half of 2021 will help bring second-hand homes back on to the market. But it highlights once again just how important supply is in determining housing prices, given strong demand. It also serves as a reminder to policymakers that, when the pandemic subsides, construction of new homes at a far greater scale than in recent years is needed to ensure housing becomes more affordable.”