{"id":389461,"date":"2026-04-09T07:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/389461\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T07:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T07:54:14","slug":"asking-price-inflation-for-homes-drops-to-lowest-rate-in-more-than-two-years-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/389461\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking-price inflation for homes drops to lowest rate in more than two years \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Annual-asking price inflation for homes <\/a>has softened to its lowest rate in more than two years, according to a new report from online property platform MyHome.<\/p>\n

The report, which covers the first three months of 2026, shows annual asking-price inflation nationwide slowed to 4.7 per cent over the period, down from 5.4 per cent in the previous quarter.<\/p>\n

That was the softest rate of asking-price inflation since the final quarter of 2023. It was also the fifth consecutive quarter in which inflation had eased and was down from the 8.4 per cent peak at the end of 2024.<\/p>\n

The slowdown was most pronounced in Dublin<\/a>, which had its softest rate of asking-price inflation in almost three years, when there was annual inflation of just 0.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n

Bank of Ireland chief economist Conall Mac Coille, who authored the report, said the data gave him confidence house-price inflation <\/a>will slow towards the group\u2019s forecast of a 4 per cent rise in 2026.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Tax on some 137,000 vacant homes to be recommended by Oireachtas committeeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cNotably, there was a relatively soft 1 per cent rise in asking prices in the first quarter of the calendar year, which often sets the tone ahead of the important summer trading season,\u201d said Mac Coille.<\/p>\n

MyHome managing director Joanne Geary said the mortgage market reflects this trend of the market \u201cpausing for breath\u201d after a period of significant activity. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, the first-time buyer market, which constitutes a sizeable portion of the overall market, is now experiencing the slowest pace of increase in average mortgage approvals since 2021,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite all this, competition in the market is still fierce, with the few properties that are available <\/a>in many cases being bid on by multiple bidders. As a result, the median property around the country is going sale-agreed in just one month.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said supply has been a \u201cmajor concern\u201d in the Irish market for some time and there were just 11,800 properties listed on MyHome, which is part of The Irish Times Group, at the end of March. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis figure is up 9 per cent on the year, but it is still very low and not nearly enough to satisfy the persistent demand we are facing,\u201d said Geary. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, new rental rules introduced last month could see a significant number of properties coming on to the market for sale, but it remains to be seen if this could be offset by homeowners\u2019 reluctance to sell, for fear they will not secure a suitable alternate property once they offload their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a brighter note, Geary said home completions <\/a>are a \u201ccause for optimism\u201d after last year\u2019s 36,000 completions beat most expectations. \u201cWe expect a slight increase in these numbers for 2026,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cBack yourself\u201d: Aimee Connolly shares her story of 10 years in business<\/p>\n

Mac Coille said competition among homebuyers <\/a>\u201cremains intense\u201d. The median transaction was still being sold 7 per cent above the original asking price in March, with one-in-six transactions settled 20 per cent or more above asking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market remains difficult for homebuyers and sellers<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cThere were 11,800 properties listed for sale at the end of March, up 9 per cent on the year \u2013 but still an exceptionally low number.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u201cnotable feature\u201d of the housing market in 2026 will be elevated numbers of small landlords in the private rented sector leaving that market and selling their properties, with \u201cthe catalyst\u201d being new stricter regulations and the introduction of six-year tenancies. <\/p>\n

Data from the Residential Tenancies Board shows there were 10,612 notices of termination received in the second half of 2025, which was up almost 40 per cent on the same period of 2024. <\/p>\n

MyHome said the figures so far suggest exiting landlords could boost housing transactions by about 3 per cent this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Annual-asking price inflation for homes has softened to its lowest rate in more than two years, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,3662,61,60,46154,13696],"class_list":{"0":"post-389461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-housing-crisis","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-myhome-ie","14":"tag-residential-tenancies-board-prtb"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}