Dublin leads pick-up in home-price growth
The annual rate of growth in residential-property prices accelerated in May for the first time since August last year, according to the latest official figures.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said that prices in the 12 months to May rose by 7.9% – up from a revised 7.6% in April.
The overall pick-up in the rate of growth was driven mainly by Dublin, where the annual rate of growth climbed from 6.5% in April to 6.9% in May.
Prices outside of Dublin rose by 8.7% – only marginally up from 8.6% in April.
The CSO figures show that the median price of a home bought during the year to May was €370,000.
South-east growth strongest
In Dublin, house prices rose by 6.8% over the year, while apartments saw a 7.2% increase. Fingal had the highest growth in house prices (9.3%).
Outside Dublin, house prices were up by 8.9% and apartment prices rose by 6.7%.
The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the south-east (Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford).
There were 3,824 home purchases filed with Revenue in May – a 4.3% drop compared with the same month last year.
Almost one-quarter of these transactions were for new homes. The 911 new homes bought during the month represented a jump of almost 19% compared with May last year.