Galway City house prices up by four per cent

The price of an average Galway City home jumped by four per cent in the first three months of this year, with the average Galway home now costing more than €335,000.

According to the latest Daft.ie Sales Report, the average price to buy a home in the city is now €335,280, which is 109 per cent above its lowest point.

In Galway County, however, there was a 21.1 per cent increase on housing prices, which means the average price to buy a house in the county is now €299,093.

Galway County’s increase was one of the largest in the country, with only four other regions being over 20 per cent.

Author of the report and economist at Trinity College Dublin, Ronan Lyons, said that house prices remain high.

“Inflation in housing prices remains stubbornly high – with Covid-19 disturbing an equilibrium of sorts that had emerged, with prices largely stable in 2019 but increasing since,” he said.

“As has been the case consistently over the last decade, increasing prices – initially in Dublin and then elsewhere – reflects a combination of strong demand and very weak supply.”

Prices have risen in all 54 markets covered by the Daft.ie Sales Report, and on average nationally, prices are 8.4 per cent higher now than a year ago.

Supply is also at a new low in the Connacht-Ulster region, with just over 2,000 properties on the market on 1 March 2022.

This is a decrease of 30 per cent from 2,900 properties in the region on the same date in 2021.

However, in both Galway City and County combined, 182 new homes were put on the market, a five per cent increase on last year.

Mr Lyons said that supply for both new and second-hand houses remains weaker than expected before the pandemic.

“Combined with unexpected strong demand, due to accidental savings during lockdown, this has driven up prices.”

“Additional supply – of all types of homes, for sale but also market rental and social rental housing – remains the only real solution to solving Ireland’s chronic housing shortage,” he said.

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