The most sought-after areas to buy a home in Ireland revealed and how to save €100,000 – where does your city rank?

THE most coveted gaffs in the country are around Coolock on Dublin’s north side, as the Irish Sun can reveal.

Property in Dublin 17 is over €100,000 cheaper than the capital’s average and currently takes less than two months to move once it hits the market.

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And according to MyHome.ie statistics released to the Irish Sun, the houses that are taking the longest to sell are in rural West Cork, where it takes more than a year to find a buyer.

While house prices in Ireland have hit a record high – up an astounding 130 per cent in a decade to €359,000 – they are finally beginning to stabilize after years of record growth, with experts citing rising mortgage costs as the main reason.

yes.ie’s Karl Deeter said house prices will need to adjust if mortgage rates continue to rise and demand falls.

He told the Irish Sun: “Home demand is definitely falling, in the final quarter of 2022 there would have been a 25 per cent drop in mortgage applications.

“And there are no real mortgage safe havens, the Bank of Ireland recently hiked rates and we know more rate hikes are on the way to keep up with Europe.

“So it’s not surprising that property prices are moving accordingly.”

Bonkers.ie’s Darragh Cassidy added: “Not so long ago it was possible to get a fixed interest rate as low as 1.90 per cent.

“By this time next year, the cheapest tariff should be over 4 percent. That’s a big turnaround in a short time.”

The average mortgage holder is now paying almost €3,000 more per year than in July 2022.

According to stats brought to us by MyHome.ie, Dublin properties were the fastest to find a new owner, with homes in Dublin 17 staying on site for just 1.7 months on average.

Homes in the area have an average value of €299,000, around €100,000 less than average, making it a sweet deal for anyone looking for north side accommodation.

These now include a 3 bed in St Brendan’s Park, Coolock for €299,000, a 3 bed in Clonshaugh Avenue for €300,000 and a 3 bed in the gated Castle Elms for just €275,000.

MOST DESIRED AREAS

Closely followed by Dublin 16, 5, 13 and 22, the much sought-after area was followed by Dublin 16, 5, 13 and 22 with on-site times of between 3 and 3.1 months.

In contrast, houses in West Cork stayed on the market longest at an average of 13.1 months, followed by Donegal at 12.2, while properties in Mayo and Galway spent an average of 12.1 months on site.

Currently available is a 5 bed villa in Coomholla Bridge, Bantry at €295,000 and a 3 bed villa in Clonakilty at €195,000.

West Cork also saw some notable price falls in 2022, with 24 houses seeing their prices fall by an average of €45,417.

Donegal also saw 28 properties drop their prices by an average of €21,171, while 30 gaffs in Monaghan saw price drops averaging €16,683.

According to the CSO, the National Residential Property Price Index rose 8.6 percent in the 12 months ended November 2022.

MINISTERS UNDER PRESSURE

Housing Secretary Darragh O’Brien is coming under increasing pressure to tackle the rising cost of owning a home.

Social Democrat TD Cian O’Callaghan said: “Home prices nationwide are now 3% above their peak at the peak of the housing boom in April 2007 and have risen by almost 130% since 2013.

“The government urgently needs to change its housing policy. The minister must act immediately to increase the supply of social, rental and affordable housing and to ease supply shortages in land and financing.

“Furthermore, the scandalous waste of vacant homes must be addressed head-on with the introduction of a penalty tax to strongly discourage vacant homes. It is clear that we cannot rely solely on the real estate market to solve the housing crisis.”

But growth in Dublin fell from 8.3 percent in October to 7 percent the following month.

In the 12 months to November 2022, households paid a median price of €300,000 for a residential property.

LOWEST AND HIGHEST

The lowest prices were achieved in Longford at €150,000, while the highest median price was €620,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Dublin.

The highest Dublin property price growth was in South Dublin – which includes posh Ballsbridge and Donnybrook – at 11 per cent, while Dublin City saw a 5.1 per cent increase.

Prices outside Dublin rose 9.8 per cent as people moved to cheaper rural areas where they can work remotely.

The region outside Dublin where property prices rose the most was the West (Galway, Mayo, Roscommon) at 15.6 percent.

In contrast, the South West (Cork, Kerry) recorded an 8.1 per cent increase.

Higher interest rates and the cost of living crisis were a major factor in making houses in the capital less affordable for buyers.

Despite stabilizing prices in the capital, demand is still strong.

In November 2022, 4,901 apartments were bought at market prices – an increase of 7.3 percent compared to the 4,566 purchases in November 2021.