Housing is an issue in every part of the country, but the reasons for that - and the challenges it creates - can differ from region to region.
Compare that to November 2017, when the median price was €155,000, and it means we’ve seen a 57% increase in the county in five years. Prices in Wicklow are up 40% in the five years – a bit closer to the national average. But if you’re starting at a higher point, then a smaller percentage actually represents a lot more in money terms.That’s followed closely by Waterford prices – which are up around €100,000 to €249,000. That’s a whopping 66% increase in five years.
Rising interest rates and jobs cuts in some firms has added more caution to buyers, with people taking more time to make a decision on a property. Depending on location, a home there might be an hour to two hours of a drive away from Dublin, which is something many people are willing to put up with in order to be able to afford a property.
But if the jobs market shifts, and workers aren’t able to make demands around pay and conditions in the same way that they do now, they might come under more pressure to return to the office. In Wexford, for example, the CSO says that average disposable income was just over €1,700 a month in 2020. So that leaves about €500 a month if you’re an average worker paying the average rent.
If you look at it in terms of the total stock of housing, the rental figure represents a fraction of 1% of total stock that’s available to rent.In Carlow, it’s 0.02% of the county’s stock that’s available to rent at the moment.Besides driving up rental prices, there is a concern that it’s having a knock-on impact on the local economy – and how attractive the region is to the likes of multinational investment.
You have to be somewhat insane to choose a 2 hour commute into Dublin. 4 hours a day, 20 hours a week spent sitting down burning money. Anyone signing up to that should rethink their priorities