Offaly housing prices up by 13% at close of 2024

The latest property price survey issued by Daft.ie showed that housing prices in Offaly during the final three months of 2024 were 13% higher than they had been a year earlier.

The property website found that the average price of a home in the Faithful County was now €266,000, which is 48% above the level seen at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And the rate of increase in the price of a house or apartment in Offaly grew faster than the national and provincial average during 2024, with the cost of housing nationally rising by 9% over the last year, while Leinster saw an 11.1% average increase in prices.

The increase in prices in Offaly was broadly in line with that seen in neighbouring Westmeath, where prices rose by 14% during 2024.

The typical listed price of a home nationwide in the final quarter of 2024 was €332,109.

Commenting on the report, its author Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, said: "2024 saw the largest increase in listed prices since 2017.

"This is, once again, a story of weak supply and strong demand. With incomes and employment growing, demand for owner-occupied housing is likely growing at close to 5% per year.

"But while the number of newly-built homes being transacted is increasing, it is growing much more slowly than demand.

"Further, the increase in new builds has, in recent quarters, been more than offset by a decline in the volume of second-hand homes coming on to the market.

"The new government may look to intervene in the mortgage market, to improve mobility of those with fixed interest rates. But ultimately, the solution remains boosting the volume of homes being built," said Mr Lyons.