Despite the recent slowdown in the prices sought by sellers, the report highlights the severe financial pressure facing people who are trying to buy homes. It also warns that recent changes by the Central Bank to loosen mortgage lending rules could make the situation even worse for homebuyers.The average sale price for a house in Ireland of just over €370,000 is now 7.7 times the average income, the highest the ratio has been since 2009.
The report notes that despite headwinds such as inflation and economic upheaval caused by the war in Ukraine, house prices showed “resilience” in 2022. However, the market enters the new year with an “especially uncertain outlook”, as interest rates rise and incomes are squeezed. Myhome’s data shows that sellers who do choose to cut asking prices are doing so faster than previously, waiting an average of 17 weeks to cut prices compared to 22 weeks in 2021. Just 0.66 per cent of properties saw their asking prices increased in the fourth quarter, according to Myhome’s data. This was the lowest level the second quarter of 2020, when the arrival of the pandemic temporarily upended the market.