Galway’s property values 70 per cent down from height of boom

Asking prices for houses in County Galway are averaging just over €130,000, after they plummeted by more than fifteen per cent over the past year.

That means that prices of properties in some locations have been slashed by up to 70 per cent since the height of the property boom in 2007.

County Galway saw the second-highest drop for any county in the Republic over the past twelve months, according to a new report from property website Daft.ie.

And while the drop in Galway City was much lower at 6.6 per cent, prices for a standard three-bed semi – traditionally seen as the ‘staple diet’ of first-time buyers – are down to one-third of their boom time values.

The report shows that asking prices – which should be differentiated from eventual selling prices – in the county are down 15.2 per cent since the end of the second quarter last year.

It’s the second-biggest drop recorded, behind Laois at 18.3 per cent and average prices of just under €91,000.

The average asking price for a home in County Galway now stands at €133,378 – that’s down 58.7 per cent since the peak of the market.

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 per cent.

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.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.