Residential Real Estate News
Ireland Coastal Home Prices Jump 23 Percent During Covid Pandemic
According to Daft.ie's newly released Coastal Report 2021, properties by the coast in Ireland are now 23% more expensive than before the pandemic.
The premium for properties in these coastal areas - which range from Carlingford and Rosslare on the east coast, through Kilmore Quay and Schull on the south coast to Lahinch, Renvyle and Dunfanaghy on the west coast - has grown dramatically over the last year. As a result of the increased premium a property in these coastal areas is now 23% more expensive than before the pandemic. This compares to a national average increase of just 8.7% in the same period.
Alongside the analysis of the change in premium over time, we give specific focus to a number of well known coastal areas. Places like Lahinch in Clare and Kilmore Quay in Wexford have seen the average price of a 3-bed house increase by 39% and 54%, respectively, in the year since the start of Covid-19 compared to the year preceding Covid-19.
Dafit.ie looked at 120,000 properties listed for sale nationwide on the daft.ie website from January 2019 to April 2021 and estimated how the price premium on coastal properties relative to other identical properties has changed over that time. We find clear evidence that echoes the anecdotes that the price of coastal properties have been on the increase since the onset of the pandemic. In particular, we see an effect on properties that are, not just within 500 metres of the coast of Ireland, but in areas where more than 10% of the total stock of housing are holiday homes. This latter feature identifies those parts of the coast that are well established in terms of coastal amenities, including beaches.
Daft.ie's report is based on an analysis of listed prices but, if anything, the growth has been even greater in transaction prices. Based on a sample of daft listings connected to the property price register, approximately one fifth of coastal properties are going for more than 10% of the asking price, approximately double the national ratio.
The shift in interest from cities to coastline is also being seen in website searches and stated preferences of those active in the housing market. Comparing February 2021 with the same month a year earlier, coastal area searches were up 45% whereas searches for Dublin city were down 59%. A survey of daft.ie's users found that 9% of people who were looking to buy in a city pre-Covid-19 changed their mind to add a coastal county onto their selection of areas of interest post-Covid-19.
