This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures and limitations of this report, see the Background Notes section.
In 2021, of the 190 dwellings purchased in Leixlip, Kildare, nearly 79% were purchased jointly, the highest proportion of joint transactions in the State.
For joint transactions, Pembroke, Dublin City, was the Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest median price at €880,000, while Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, was the lowest at €127,000.
For sole transactions, Stillorgan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, was the LEA with the highest median price at €612,500, while Lifford-Stranorlar, Donegal, was the lowest at €105,000.
Looking at sole transactions by age of purchaser, Donaghmede, Dublin City, and Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, were the LEAs with the lowest median age at 34, while Kilmuckridge, Wexford, was the highest at 55.
Pembroke, Dublin City, was the LEA with the highest median income for joint transactions at €182,400, while Carndonagh, Donegal, had the lowest at €41,300.
Buncrana, Donegal, was the LEA with the lowest median income for sole transactions at €29,600, while South East Inner City, Dublin City, was the LEA with the highest, at €79,200.
Between 2019 and 2021 the number of residential dwelling transactions increased by 2.5% having stood at 45,280 in 2019 and 46,420 in 2021.
All the data contained within this publication, along with previous data is available on PxStat.
Map 1 and Table 1 below highlight the total number of market household dwelling purchases, by transaction type and local electoral area.
Regarding the maps presented, lighter colours correspond with the LEAs containing the least number of dwelling transactions while the darker areas correspond with the LEAs containing higher numbers of dwelling transactions. This is similar for the maps which show the median values for price, age, and income. Lighter colours indicate lower median values, while darker colours indicate higher.
Users can hover their mouse over the map to see the name of the LEA and the associated value within it. Users can also zoom in on the map to see some of the LEAs that are smaller in geographical area.
As Map 1 and Table 1 illustrate, the majority of transactions occurred in and around Dublin. Howth-Malahide, Fingal, was the LEA with the largest number of transactions in 2021, with 830. Of these, 570 were classed as joint transactions and the remaining 260 as sole transactions.
In contrast, Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, had the lowest number of dwelling transactions with 60. Of these, the split between sole and joint transactions stood at 30 each.
Map 2 and Table 2 present the median price of market household dwelling purchases, by transaction type and local electoral area.
Across all transaction types in 2021, Pembroke, Dublin City, had the highest median price with a value of €800,000.
For sole transactions Stillorgan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, had the highest median price with a value of €612,500, while Pembroke, Dublin City, was the LEA with highest median price for a joint transaction at €880,000.
Lifford–Stranorlar had the lowest median price for a sole transaction in 2021, at €105,000. Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, had the lowest median price for a joint transaction with a median price of €127,000.
Map 3 and Table 3 highlight the median age of purchasers, by transaction type and across LEA.
The median age at a State level for purchasers stood at 39 in 2021 with a joint low in 14 regions which included LEA's such as Leixlip, Kildare, Cobh, County Cork, Clondalkin, South Dublin, and Ballymun-Finglas, Dublin City, amongst others. Corca Dhuibhne, Kerry, Belmullet, Mayo, and Kenmare, Kerry, had a joint highest median age of 52.
While the median age of a sole purchaser was 41 at a State level in 2021, the lowest was 34 jointly in Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, and Donaghmede, Dublin City. Kilmuckridge, Wexford, has the highest sole purchaser median age at 55 years.
For joint purchasers the median age stood at 38 at a State level, with a joint high of 53 in Belmullet, Mayo, and Corca Dhuibhne, Kerry. A joint low of 34 was seen in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh, Dublin City, Leixlip, Kildare, and Tallaght Central, South Dublin.
Map 4 and Table 4 present the median income of market household dwelling purchases, by transaction type and local electoral area.
Stillorgan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, had the highest median income in 2021 with a value of €138,400 and Carndonagh, Donegal, the lowest with a median of €38,200.
Broken down by sole and joint purchasers, the highest median income for sole purchasers was in South East Inner City, Dublin City, at €79,200 and also in Pembroke, Dublin City, for joint purchasers at €182,400.
The lowest median income for sole purchasers was in Buncrana, Donegal, with a value of €29,600 and Carndonagh, Donegal, for joint purchasers at €41,300.
At a State level the number of transactions stood at 45,280 in 2019, falling to 38,010 in 2020 and rising to 46,420 in 2021. In percentage change terms this is a fall of 16.1% between 2019/2020, a rise of 22.1% between 2020/2021 and an increase of 2.5% when comparing the 2019/2021 period.
Comparing the changes in the number of transactions between 2019 and 2021, 51 out of 166 LEAs (30.7%) are still below the 2019 number of sales. These include areas such as Tallaght South, South Dublin (510 in 2019 vs 230 in 2021), Navan, Meath (480 in 2019 vs 380 in 2021) and Sligo-Drumcliff, Sligo (210 in 2019 vs 190 in 2021).
In total, 15 out of 166 LEAS (9.0%) were in line with their 2019 level of sales in 2021 with Fermoy, County Cork, (270) and Letterkenny, Donegal, (240) being two examples.
Finally, the remaining 101 out of 166 LEAs (60.8%) surpassed their 2019 number of dwelling sales in 2021. Examples of these include Glenties, Donegal, (170 in 2019 vs 270 in 2021), Trim, Meath, (190 in 2019 vs 290 in 2021), Cobh, County Cork, (330 in 2019 vs 500 in 2021) and Clondalkin, South Dublin, (430 in 2019 vs 580 in 2021).
Table 5 below provides the full list.
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the Frontier publication, Seán O’Connor, Statistician, said: "Today’s Frontier publication provides further information on the characteristics of individuals purchasing residential property in Ireland in 2021, across the themes of prices, ages, income and the numbers of dwellings purchased. From examining the data presented today it is clear to see the regional variation of the housing market across the State.
While the proportion of properties purchased jointly stood at 60.3% in 2021 at a State level, in Leixlip, Kildare, this share stood at 78.9%. In contrast, in South West Inner City, Dublin City, the share of joint transactions was 38.5%.
Of the 46,420 dwellings purchased in 2021, the Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest number of transactions was Howth-Malahide, Fingal, at 830, followed by Laytown-Bettystown, Meath, and Kimmage-Rathmines, Dublin City, at 640 each. In contrast, Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan had the lowest number of transactions at 60.
Prices
The top five largest median prices were found in the Dublin urban areas of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, and Dublin City. Pembroke, Dublin City, had the highest median or mid-point price at €800,000, followed by Stillorgan, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, at €730,000. Lifford-Stranorlar, Donegal, was the LEA with the lowest median price at €110,000, followed jointly by Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan, and Carndonagh, Donegal, at €122,500 respectively.
In Buncrana, Donegal, the median price of a sole transaction equalled that of a joint transaction, at €150,000. In contrast, the largest difference was in Pembroke, Dublin City, where the median price of sole transaction was €600,000 while a joint transaction was €880,000, which is a difference of €280,000.
Age and Income
Donaghmede, Dublin City, and Ballybay-Clones, Monaghan jointly were the LEAs with the lowest median age for sole purchasers at 34. The lowest median age for a joint purchaser was 34, found in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh, Dublin City, Leixlip, Kildare, and Tallaght Central, South Dublin.
While the median income of a joint purchaser was €87,700 in 2021 at a State level, at an LEA level it varied from a low of €41,300 in Carndonagh, Donegal to a high of €182,400 in Pembroke, Dublin City.
While the four local authority areas of Dublin dominated the table in terms of LEAs with the highest median joint purchaser income, Greystones, Wicklow, and Cork City South East, Cork City, were the fourteenth and sixteenth highest LEAs with a value of €116,400 and €108,000.
Of the 166 LEAs, 30 (18.1%) saw a joint purchaser income equal to or above €100,000.
Changes Over Time
At a State level the number of transactions stood at 45,280 in 2019, falling to 38,010 in 2020 and rising to 46,420 in 2021. In percentage change terms this was a fall of 16.1% between 2019/2020, a rise of 22.1% between 2020/2021, and an increase of 2.5% between 2019/2021.
Comparing the changes in the number of transactions between 2019 and 2021, 51 out of 166 LEAs (30.7%) are still below the 2019 number of sales, while 15 out of 166 LEAs (9.0%) equalled them. The remaining 101 out of 166 LEAs (60.8%) have surpassed their 2019 number of dwelling sales in 2021."