Kerry House Price Survey Jan 2021

The price of the average three-bed semi in Kerry is expected to rise by 5% in the next 12 months, according to a survey by Real Estate Alliance.

Prices have held steady in the last quarter of 2020, with three-bed semi-detached homes now costing an average of €226,000, up €1,000 on the December 2019 average of €225,000, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.

Demand remains strong and the time it takes to sell a property has remained steady at six weeks.

In Killarney, the price of a three-bed semi-detached house has remained steady at €270,000 throughout 2020 with time taken to sell unchanged at eight weeks.

Meanwhile prices increased slightly in Tralee from €180,000 in December 2019 to €182,000 by Q4 2020, an increase of just over 1% with time taken to sell unchanged at five weeks.

“The market has gone quiet in the last few weeks, and supply is very low – although the demand for high-end quality properties is there, there is no supply,” said Donal Culloty of REA Coyne and Culloty, Killarney.

“Lack of supply is a huge factor driving the market now. Due to Covid-19, people are reluctant to place properties on market,” said Eddie Barrett of REA North*s, Tralee.

The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual sale price of Ireland's typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.

Average house prices rose by almost 1.5% nationally over the past three months in a market fuelled by a combination of record mortgage approvals and an unprecedented lack of supply, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index found.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by more than €3,000 over the past three months to €239,194 – an annual increase of 1.9%.

The biggest rises in Q4 came in Ireland’s secondary cities and the commuter counties – both of whom had experienced the least movement in prices over the preceding 18 months.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in Dublin City rose by 0.6% to €431,833 during the past three months, an annual increase of 1.41%.

Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford cities shared a combined increase of 2.4% in the past 12 weeks with prices rising by €6,000 to an average of €262,500.

Commuter counties are now feeling the benefit of the migration towards space and home working potential, with three bed semis rising 2.2% by almost €6,000 on the Q3 figure to an average of €253,111.

Reflecting the flight to rural locations, prices in the rest of the country’s towns rose by 1.2% in 12 weeks to €165,397.