{"id":405515,"date":"2026-03-26T20:37:35","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:37:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/405515\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T20:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:37:35","slug":"housing-market-cools-unevenly-as-urban-supply-recovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/405515\/","title":{"rendered":"Housing market cools unevenly as urban supply recovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland\u2019s housing market is showing its clearest signs yet of stabilising, with price growth slowing and supply improving in Dublin, according to a new report.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In its Irish Sales Report for the first quarter of 2026, published on Thursday, Daft.ie said the market is entering the year with a \u201cnoticeably different dynamic\u201d compared to recent years, with a shift away from the sharp price increases seen since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The report found that while prices are still rising, the rate of increase has slowed across both listed and transaction measures, with early signs of stabilisation emerging first in urban areas.<\/p>\n

According to the report, Dublin recorded its weakest price growth since 2023, alongside modest quarterly declines in transaction prices. At the same time, the availability of second-hand homes in the capital has increased significantly, rising 14% year-on-year and moving closer to pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n

The report\u2019s author, economist Ronan Lyons, said the changes reflect a shift in supply dynamics, particularly in cities where the second-hand market plays a central role.<\/p>\n

He noted that more homeowners are now coming off fixed-rate mortgage terms agreed during the interest rate increases of the early 2020s, reducing barriers to moving and leading to more properties being listed for sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile prices are still rising, the rate of increase has slowed across both listed and transaction price measures,\u201d Lyons said, adding that this marks \u201cthe clearest sign yet of a market moving away from the acute overheating seen since the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the trend is not uniform across the country, with more stable conditions emerging in cities while other regions continue to face tighter supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrucially, however, this is not a uniform cooling,\u201d Lyons said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, a more nuanced pattern is emerging, with signs of stabilisation appearing first in urban markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report found that outside major cities, supply constraints remain more severe, particularly in areas where second-hand availability is still well below pre-pandemic levels. In Leinster, some of this pressure has been offset by increased delivery of new homes, but in many parts of the country supply remains limited.<\/p>\n

Lyons said this divergence is contributing to differing price trends across regions, with stronger inflation continuing where shortages are more pronounced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn much of the country, where new supply remains limited and second-hand activity subdued, price inflation continues to run at a higher rate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result is a housing market that is splitting into areas where supply is improving and prices are stabilising, and those where shortages continue to drive stronger increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also highlighted changes in \u201cmarket heat\u201d, measured as the gap between initial asking prices and final sale prices. Nationally, this gap stood at 5.8% in early 2026, compared to 3.4% two years earlier.<\/p>\n

In Dublin, market heat eased from 7.6% a year ago to 6.9%, consistent with improved availability. By contrast, it increased in other regions, reaching 7.2% in Munster and 4.3% in Leinster.<\/p>\n

Lyons said these figures indicate that competition among buyers remains strong overall, despite some easing in the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere availability is improving, most notably in Dublin, competition between buyers is beginning to ease, even if it remains above long-run norms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cElsewhere, however, limited supply continues to translate into strong upward pressure on prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report noted that Ireland\u2019s housing market remains fundamentally constrained by supply, with any sustained easing in price pressures dependent on broader increases in both second-hand and new-build housing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s housing market is showing its clearest signs yet of stabilising, with price growth slowing and supply improving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[79,6217,179,18,3847,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-405515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-daft-ie","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-housing","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116297405329571057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}