New figures reveal how much people are paying for homes, but also show how much above the asking price they must fork out to land these homes
Asking prices for homes are up 5% over the past year, but the number of properties is at its lowest for 12 years, a report shows.
The situation is driving people to push actual sold prices up another 7% to 8%.
The asking price for homes new to the market was €395,000 in April, May and June.
It was €495,000 in Dublin and €350,000 in the rest of the country.
Despite reports of stretched affordability and softer conditions for more expensive homes, sellers and auctioneers still felt “sufficiently confident to raise asking prices just ahead of key summer trading season”, the MyHome report said.
Part of the reason for strong price growth is that there are currently just 2% of the 2.2million homes in Ireland on the market – about 44,000.
That figure is only around half the historical rate of “liquidity” of about 4% of properties for sale, meaning agents would normally expect almost 90,000 homes to be up for sale.
The report is also forecasting new house completions could reach 40,000 this year – up from an earlier prediction of 37,500.
The increased asking prices have also bucked the recent trend, according to the Property Report from MyHome for April, May and June.
It said: “While transactions were being settled for an average of 7%-8% over the asking price in May/June, interestingly the official CSO residential property price index (RPPI) for April showed transaction prices have had their softest start to the year, in the first four months of 2026, since 2020.
“The RPPI index was up 6.2% year- on-year in April, but increased by only 0.2% between December 2025 and April 2026.”
The latest report found annual asking price inflation was 5% nationwide.
In Dublin, it is now 4.5%, and the rate is 5.4% in the rest of the country.
Additionally, the report found asking prices nationally rose by 4.3% over the three months – up by 3.8% in Dublin and by 4.7% in the rest of the country.
Report author and Bank of Ireland chief economist Conall MacCoille said the key question was whether buyers “will actually be able to meet the elevated asking prices we are seeing”.
“Our data, while surprising, does not suggest vendors are being unrealistic,” he said.
“Through May and June transactions were being settled 7%-8% above the original asking price – if anything signalling more intense competition amongst home buyers.”
While stretched affordability was becoming more apparent in the mortgage market, wages were still rising in line with house prices, he said.
Mr MacCoille added: “A key piece of context here is the latest data showing average earnings were €56,000 annualised in Q1 2026, up 4.4% on the year.
“So... house prices are rising broadly in line with wages, so affordability is broadly steady.”
