Two different reports on the Dublin second hand housing market show that average prices grew by around 7-9% in the second quarter of the year.
Estate agents Sherry Fitzgerald says that the average price of a second hand house in the city rose by 9% in the March to June quarter, bringing growth in the six months to the end of June to 21%. This follows growth of 23% for 2005.
Sherry Fitzgerald says that for the 12 months to June 2006, second hand house prices in Dublin rose by 33.8%, a level not seen since 1998.
Meanwhile, Douglas Newman Good's house price gauge says that second hand houses in Dublin rose by 7.4% in the second quarter of 2006, bringing the increase for the first half of the year to 17% on average.
DNG says that the upper end of the housing market remains the strongest sector with an average increase of 8.6% for properties worth €700,000 and over.
The DNG report also shows a very strong first season in the auction market with the volume of property offered for sale by public auction up 25% on 2005. The average sale price under the hammer at auction also rose by 35% during the first six months of the year to €2,132,358.
Sherry Fitzgerald also says today that the average price of a second hand property in Ireland rose by 6.8% in the second quarter of the year, bringing growth in the six months to June to 15%. This follows growth of 17.3% in 2005.
The estate agents say that first time buyers remain a stable ingredient in overall demand, purchasing an estimated 36% of all the second hand properties traded and closed in the first half of 2006.
'2006 will be another record breaking year for the Irish property market with indications to date suggesting that price inflation will significantly exceed the exceptional levels achieved in 2005,' commented Sherry Fitzgerald's Chief Economist Marian Finnegan.
'That said, we can anticipate a notable slowdown in the pace of inflation in the second half of the year as the impact of rising interest rates and the strength of stock available in the market will facilitate a slowdown in price growth,' she added.
Paul Murgatroyd, Economist with Douglas Newman Good, says today's report suggests that the series of small increases in interest rates since December are now starting to make their mark on first time buyers in Dublin.
'In saying this, activity levels in the market remain high and confidence amongst purchasers remains good with the majority having expectations of higher prices in the future. This is shown by the decline in the average length of time to agree a sale from 55 days in quarter one to just 50 days in the last three months,' he added.
