An analysis of recent trends in the residential market shows that the total number of properties for sale at any one time is continuing to fall.
The figure by property website Daft.ie is at its lowest point since February 2007, with fewer than 24,000 homes for sale across the country. Two years ago, 21,000 properties were on the market in Munster, Connacht and Ulster alone.
The latest report’s figures shed a new light on how serious the housing crisis now is in the capital. There were 5,700 properties on the market in Leinster, not including Dublin. But in the capital itself, a mere 3,400 were for sale at any one time.
However, the issue is also becoming increasingly problematic outside of Dublin. There were just 13,500 homes for sale in Munster, Connacht and Ulster in the first quarter of this year, a 36pc drop since 2014. The lack of housing means that property prices are now being driven predominantly by supply and demand, with the new Central Bank lending rules looking more irrelevant because the increase in population is not being matched by a corresponding increase in the housing stock.
Nationwide, only 10,000 new homes were built last year, with the majority of these being one-off houses. The average national asking price rose during the first quarter of this year was €210,000, compared with €198,000 last year and €164,000 in 2013.
Prices in Dublin have increased by 41pc (€91,000) compared with their previous lowest point in the middle of 2012. However, the prices are falling in Dublin 2, Dublin 6, Dublin 16, Dublin 18 and South County Dublin.