Asking price for a three-bed city home dips below €200k

Date Published: 06-Jan-2011

BY FRANK FARRAGHER

THE price of houses and apartments in the city fell dramatically in the final quarter of last year – with the average ‘asking price’ for a three-bed home dropping below the €200,000 mark for the first time in years – according to the latest housing market survey.

The latest dip in asking prices follows a slight recovery in the June to September period last year, but the overall trend for 2010 reflects a continuing downward price spiral.

Over the course of 2010, the asking price for houses in the city dropped by almost 13% to an average of just over €240,000 – in the ‘crazy prices’ days of late 2006, this figure stood at close on €400,000.

According to the Daft.ie House Price Report published earlier this week, the average asking price for a three bed property in the city during the last quarter of the year was just under €200,000.

The average asking price for a four bed house in the city is now down to €269,000, while even a five bedroomed house now commands a ‘first quote’ of €393,000 – an ‘unthinkable price’ just over four years ago.

Two bed houses or apartments have an average price of €190,000 with ‘single beds’ down to €148,

However one of the city’s leading auctioneering firms said this week that with the more realistic expectation of sellers, the city market had been quite lively for them over recent months.

Niall Browne, Senior Sales Negotiater with O’Donnellan and Joyce Auctioneers, said that factors such as rental costs, the fact that it was a buyers’ market, and the willingness of sellers to ‘do a deal’ ensured that business was being done. 

“It really is first of all about value for money in the current market, and secondly what individuals or couples can afford to pay. Once they’re satisfied on those two counts, there certainly is business to be done,” he said.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.