Asking prices fall 3.7% in the third quarter of 2010

Asking prices for residential property around the country fell by an average of 3.7% during the third quarter of 2010, according to the latest report published by property website Daft.ie. The national average asking price for property has fallen 37% since the peak and now stands at €195,000, while the average time to sell a property is now 8.4 months, down from 9.1 months since the start of the year.

In Dublin, asking prices fell by 3.3% during the past 3 months, while in Cork and Waterford prices dropped by about 1.5%. Prices in Galway and Limerick were largely static during the summer months, while in outside the main cities, asking prices fell by an average of 4.3%. The largest falls were seen in Longford, Kilkenny and Monaghan, which saw asking prices by up to 10% in three months.

Laois, Offaly & West Leinster
In the West Leinster counties of Laois, Westmeath, Offaly and Longford, asking prices fell by 3.4% between June and September, around half the fall seen in the second three months of the year. The average asking in Offaly in the third quarter of 2010 was €193,000, a fall of €118,000 from the peak in 2007.

Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie said: “The key driver of house prices at the moment is the mismatch of supply and demand. Many would-be first-time buyers still lack either the confidence or the finance to enter the sales market. As a result, the total supply on the market still remains very high. The total stock on the market has been close to 60,000 for over two years now.”

“Nonetheless, there are properties selling,” Lyons continued. “Of the 5,000 properties listed for sale during April, about two in five have now sold. Evidence from the capital suggests that more realistic sellers find it easier to sell. In Dublin, where prices have dropped by significantly more than elsewhere, only about one in three properties listed for sale in April is still on the market.”

The full report, available at www.daft.ie/report contains a commentary by Patrick Koucheravy, Economist at CBRE Ireland.

For further information please contact:
Ronan Lyons (01 421 8700 / 086 604 5655), Daft.ie – media@daft.ie

Comments are closed.