House price spike in Waterford - Daft report

House prices in Waterford County have sky-rocketed by 58% compared to pre-pandemic averages, and 8.5% since last September, according to the Daft.ie House Price Report. 

Waterford City has also experienced a significant surge in average house prices, more than 43% since pre-pandemic levels and a 3.4% increase in the last year.

Both Waterford regions have come off lightly in Q3 however, with Waterford County and City moderately increasing by 1.4% and 0.8% respectively. These increases bring the average house prices to €347,662 and €249,792.

The Daft.ie report is run on a quarterly basis since it was first launched in 2005 and shows that houses are selling comfortably above their asking price, with an average of a 6.3% increase on the house price brought about by large demand for homes.

This leaves homes in Waterford County selling at a price close to the national average, €344,828. The area with the highest house prices is South County Dublin, €708,464, or as low as €203,863 in Longford.

The surge in house prices comes as house supply drops significantly. The number of homes for sale in Munster has dropped 11% on the same date a year ago, plummeting to below half of the pre-pandemic average of 8,400. A similar trend can be seen across the country where a contraction of supply in the market has brought about significant price inflation.

In the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said that "the true number of homes needed each year, if the housing deficit is to be addressed, as well as new needs, is close to twice what was built last year.

"Ensuring housing supply is responsive to underlying requirements will very likely be the dominant issue for the next government as it has been for this one."

"Unfortunately for policymakers, and the wider public too of course, ‘fixing’ housing supply takes time and policymakers have little control over the rate at which owners of existing homes will come back into the market," the economist explained.

"The volume of new construction, however, is something that can be shaped by public policy. The government can take some credit for overseeing a doubling of the professional construction sector in the last few years."