Residential Property Price Index August 2017

The CSO has adopted median price as opposed to mean price as its principal indicative descriptor for residential property prices. This publication and future RPPI publications will emphasise median prices over mean prices. As before, the CSO will continue to publish both means and medians on StatBank. For more on this topic please see the information note or the CSO video describing the difference between mean and median.

Volume and Value

In the month of August, there were 4,011 household market residential dwelling purchases filed with the Revenue Commissioners. This represents a 13.0% increase compared to August 2016, when 3,551 purchases were filed, and an increase of 3.4% compared to July 2017, when 3,878 purchases were filed. The total value of the market based on transactions filed in August was €1,130.8 million.

New and Existing Dwellings

Of the 4,011 household market dwelling purchases filed with the Revenue Commissioners in August, 612 (15.3%) were for new dwellings and 3,399 (84.7%) were for existing dwellings. Compared to August 2016, the volume of new dwelling purchases increased by 29.1% and the volume of existing dwelling purchases increased by 10.5% (See Figure 2.1).

 

Median Price

In the 12 months to August, the median price paid by households for a dwelling on the residential property market was €215,000.

Dublin was the region with the highest median price (€337,000) in the year to August. Of the four administrative areas of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest median price (€510,000). Whereas, Fingal had the lowest median price (€301,000).

Outside Dublin, the highest median prices were in Wicklow (€294,000) and Kildare (€265,000).

The lowest median prices for a dwelling were in Longford (€79,447) and Roscommon (€85,000) (See Figure 2.3).

Mean Price

In the 12 months to August, the mean market price paid by households for a dwelling was €262,846.

In the year to August, the mean price paid by households was higher in Dublin than in any other region or county. The mean price paid for a dwelling in Dublin was €416,653. Of the four administrative areas of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown was the most expensive, with a mean price of €590,531 over the 12 month period. In contrast, South Dublin was the least expensive, with a mean price of €343,050.

After Dublin, the next most expensive region was the Mid-East, where the mean price paid by households was €264,097. Within the Mid-East, Co. Wicklow was most expensive, with a mean price of €329,468, making it the second most expensive county after Co. Dublin.

The least expensive region for household purchases over the last 12 months was the Border region, with a mean price of €123,570. However, the least expensive county was Co. Longford in the Midland region, with a mean price of €95,647 (see Figure 2.4).

Note 

Neither median nor mean prices are appropriate for measuring the evolution of property prices as the mix of houses sold in different periods can change over time. The Residential Property Price Index is the definitive measure of property price trends.

The Statbank Tables are available here