Homes for sale increase but still at half of 2010 levels
The number of homes for sale throughout the country rose 3% in the past year but is half of what was available eight years ago, according to estate agency Sherry FitzGerald.
The firm said the stock of available properties had increased to 25,800 units in July 2018, just 700 more than the year previously.
Current available stock represents just 1.4% of the total private housing stock in the Republic, and stands 52% lower than in July 2010, when 53,900 units were advertised for sale, it said.
There were a total of 705 units advertised for sale in Cork City, representing 1.5% of housing stock — this compared to 451 units in same period last year.
Cork county stock decreased in the past year. It had 2,727 units, or 1.6% of housing stock, compared to 2,808 in July 2017.
“Overall (Cork) supply increased by 5.7% but it is worth stating that proportions are still very low by any standard,” the firm’s chief economist Marian Finnegan said.
There were 5,100 units advertised for sale in Dublin, just 1% of its private housing stock — however, that number was up 31% compared to the same period in 2017, according to the report.
All four Dublin local authorities saw supply levels increase in July, but the percentage of secondhand stock ranges between 0.9% and 1.2%, said Ms Finnegan.
Such persistent low levels of stock magnify the imbalance between supply and demand that exist in the capital, she said.
In July 2010, there were 7,100 units advertised for sale in Dublin, a real indicator of the depletion in available stock in the intervening period, she added.
A moderation in price growth in Dublin is likely to persist in the coming months, Ms Finnegan said.
