24 June 2022
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Property
Property prices in Cork have mirrored the national trend by rising during the quarter, according to the latest MyHome.ie Property Report.
The report for Q2 2022, in association with Davy, shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is now €265,000. This means prices have risen by €15,000 compared with this time last year.
Asking prices for a 3-bed semi-detached house in the county rose by €10,000 over the quarter to €265,000. This means that prices in the segment have risen by €15,000 compared to this time last year.
Meanwhile, the asking price for a 4-bed semi-detached house in Cork has risen by €5,000 over the quarter to €325,000. This price is up by €15,000 compared to this time last year.
There were 1,413 properties for sale in Cork at the end of Q2 2022 – an increase of 11% over the quarter.
The average time for a property to go sale agreed in the county after being placed up for sale now stands at nearly three and a half months. In the city, it is nearly three months.
National picture
The author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Davy, said that 2022 should be a year of two halves, with price inflation slowing down in the second half of the year. “Double-digit inflation and sharp price gains are set to give way to greater concerns on affordability, the economic outlook and the impact of the ECB raising interest rates.”
He said that even though the slowdown has been marginal this quarter, anecdotal evidence from estate agents suggests that the momentum driving asking price inflation earlier in the year, is starting to slow.
“However, we are unlikely to see a repeat of the Celtic tiger era – as mortgage lending rules have kept the market in check. The expected rise in interest rates from the ECB, while notable, will also not have the same negative effect given the Irish market is well insulated at present.”
He said, however, that demand was still exceptionally intense, with the average time to sale agreed falling to a fresh record low of 2.6 months.
He added that average mortgage approval rate was now €283,700 – which is above Celtic tiger levels for the first time – but that the excess demand in the market meant that effectively 20% of homebuyers with mortgage approval are currently failing to secure a property each year.
He concluded: “The possibility of a modest fall in Irish house prices can’t be ruled out, correcting some of the froth built-up since the beginning of the pandemic. However, double-digit declines or a repeat of the Celtic Tiger era housing crash seems very unlikely. This is because the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) rules have stopped homebuyers taking on too much debt.”
Joanne Geary, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said: “It is now clear that our prediction in the Q1 2022 Property Price Report, that price inflation would slow down, has been proven correct.”
She noted that rising stock levels were a cause for optimism. “It is encouraging to see stock levels and new listings rise this quarter, albeit from a low base. However, even though we have seen somewhat of a correction, demand is still far outstripping supply and this imbalance needs to be rectified in order for normality to return to the market.”
Full details of the report can be found at www.myhome.ie/reports
Technical note: The median price is the ‘middle price’. It can be thought of as the price of the house which is more expensive than exactly half of the other houses. MyHome.ie finds that it is superior to the average in estimating the price of a typical house and that is why we use it in our county by county analysis of 3 and 4 bed semi-detached properties.
