The rate of inflation of asking prices for houses and apartments has dropped to its lowest level in two years.
A report by website MyHome in association with Bank of Ireland said that asking price inflation was running at 4.7% nationally in the first quarter of this year.
Asking prices in Dublin were up 2.9% while the rate outside the capital was 6.1%.
The median asking price nationally was €385,000 in the first three months of the year. In Dublin it was €450,000 and in the rest of the country it was €330,000.
“While this slowdown is evident in the mortgage market – particularly among first-time buyers – competition among buyers is still intense, with the median transaction price still 7% over the original asking price and the median property taking just one month to go sale agreed,” the author of the report, Bank of Ireland chief economist Conall Mac Coille, said.
He added that a notable feature of the housing market in 2026 was the “elevated number of small landlords in the private sector leaving the market and selling their properties”.
He said this was being driven by the introduction of new stricter regulations and six-year minimum tenancies.
Mr Mac Coille said that Bank of Ireland was forecasting that 37,000 to 38,000 homes would be built this year up from 36,000 in 2025.
But he warned higher oil prices could add “another headwind” for the construction sector.