Louth property prices stay flat so far this year

Property prices in Louth have stayed flat during the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, according to the latest MyHome Property Price Report.

The report for Q1 2025, in association with Bank of Ireland, shows that the median asking price for a property in the county is still €250,000. This means prices have risen by €3,000 compared with this time last year. Asking prices for a three-bed semi-detached house in the county rose by €1,000 over the quarter to €260,000. This means that prices in the segment have risen by €10,000 compared to this time last year.

Meanwhile, the asking price for a four-bed semi-detached house in Louth fell €2,500 over the quarter to €295,000. This price is up by €5,050 compared to this time last year. There were 238 properties for sale in Louth at the end of Q1 2025 – a decrease of 8% over the quarter. The average time for a property to go sale agreed in the county after being placed up for sale now stands at almost four months.

Looking at the national picture, author of the report, Conall MacCoille, Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, said: “Record low supply and continued surging demand are still driving the property market, but the risk here is that Ireland’s relatively thin, illiquid housing market, reliant on those at the top of the income distribution could be exposed to a sudden negative economic shock, such as the risk of a US-EU tariff war, especially if it were to disproportionately hit employment in the high-paid multinational sector.”

He said, however, that in the absence of a trade war, all signs point to further growth, and in that instance our forecast of 5% inflation for 2025 may even prove to be conservative.

“The average mortgage approval was €318,400 in January, up 7% on 2024 – pointing to further price gains, while the extent of the tightening housing market is still striking. At end-March, just 10,800 homes were listed for sale on MyHome, a fresh record low. Just one in every two hundred homes in Ireland is currently listed for sale.

“Notably, first-time-buyer mortgage drawdowns rose to 26,200 in 2024, their highest level since 2007 but mover drawdowns fell to just 9,000 loans, now 20% below pre-Covid-19 levels.”

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Meanwhile, Mr MacCoille warned of increasingly stretched affordability in the market. “Through 2024 Ireland’s residential property price index rose by 8.7%, stretching affordability versus the 5.6% pay growth recorded over the same period. The average Irish residential property transaction of €404,000 was an eight-times multiple of average annual earnings of €51,000. This is the most stretched Irish house prices have become relative to income since 2009.”

Turning to supply, he said the picture couldn’t be more opaque. “The 67,000 housing starts recorded in 2024 clearly didn’t reflect underlying activity levels, but rather developers rushing to avail of waivers on local authority and water infrastructure charges.

“That said, it is worth remembering that completions of scheme houses rose to 16,200 in 2024, or including one-off houses, to 21,600. In both cases these are the highest levels attained since the Celtic Tiger era. The disappointing 30,000 completion figure for 2024 reflected the 8,763 apartment completions, down 24% on the year.

"However, 15,900 apartments, equivalent to at least two years’ supply, were still under construction as of September 2024. In summary, we would still expect some pick-up in housing completions in 2025.”