Business
Family homes on the market for €80,000
BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM
An average family home in Galway County or City now has a price tag of €80,000 or €130,000, according to new research from property website Daft.ie.
In a report published this week, the average asking price of a three-bed semi-detached house in the county is just €81,000, while a similar property in the city is asking €132,000.
The dramatic figures show county homes have dropped in value by up to 70%, while the city has been hit just as badly by the downturn at around 64%.
Three-bed semis are traditionally seen as the ‘staple diet’ of first-time buyers, and are generally taken as an indication of property market performance.
Overall, asking prices – which should be differentiated from eventual selling prices – for houses in County Galway are averaging just over €133,378, after they plummeted by more than 15.2% over the past year.
The average asking price for a home in County Galway now stands at €133,378 – that’s down 58.7% since the peak of the market, while larger homes have been harder-hit with cuts of up to 70%.
And while the drop in Galway City was much lower at 6.6%, prices for a standard three-bed semi are down to one-third of their boom time values.
However, with a five-bed detached property now averaging €166,000, that means the higher-end of the market has been badly hit.
During the boom, many such homes were selling for up to €530,000, which represents a drop of almost 70%.
For a one-bed apartment, the average asking price is now €51,000; for a two-bed terraced it is €54,000; for a three-bed semi it is €81,000 and for a four-bed bungalow, it is €152,000.
The report shows the average asking price for a one-bed apartment in Galway City is now €67,000; for a two-bed terraced it is €83,000; for a four-bed bungalow it is €219,000 and for a five-bed detached, the average is €307,000.
Conversely, the report found that parts of Dublin are seeing a rise in asking prices, of between 2.1% and 12.2%.
Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie said: “It is likely that over the next 12-24 months, we may have to get used to the idea of prices rising in some places – particularly urban areas – while they
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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