Cavan has some of the best value on the market - IPAV
Prices being achieved for most property types in County Cavan increased in the second half of 2020 despite the Coronvirus pandemic.
That's the conclusion of a report by the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) focussing the last six months of 2020.
The IPAV's Residential Property Price Barometer was published at the weekend and it charts actual house prices achieved by auctioneers, for the best-selling property types on the market – three and four bedroom semi-detached houses and two-bedroom apartments.
County Cavan has some of the best value on the market nationally for these property types, according to the survey.
It found that two-bed apartments across the county typically achieved selling prices averaging €92,500 per unit from July to December, 2020. The sizes of these properties averaged 1,502 sq m.
Three-bed semi-detached houses meanwhile made, on average, €139,500 per house. They were typically around 1,359 sq m in size. Four-bed semi-detached homes sold for around €165,000 each and they ran to 1,378 sq m on average.
Taken together, it makes for an average unit prize of €132,333 in County Cavan. This makes the Breffni county the third least expensive to buy nationwide – behind only Roscommon (€128,750) and Longford (€117,000). The six most expensive areas, meanwhile, were all in Dublin.
Looking at the four-bed semi-detached market in particular, Cavan is second cheapest nationally with such properties making an average of €165,000 in the second half of 2020. This also represented a 3.13% price rise on the first half of the year; or a growth of almost 5.5% for the year as a whole.
Castlepollard based Pat Davitt is the chief executive of IPAV. He's predicting that housing demand will keep prices elevated for the foreseeable future.
“Just over a year ago, the Central Bank estimated we will need to build 34,000 new homes every year up to 2030 based on an assumption of net inward migration of 30,000 people a year. The 2020 figure for new builds is likely to come it at about 20,000. So demand will continue to outstrip supply for some time,” he explained.
Supply is not the only challenge the market faces, according to Mr Davitt.
“There is a huge issue around affordability, particularly for those on average wages, many of whom could afford to service a mortgage, were it not for the overly zealous nature of the Central Bank’s macro prudential mortgage rules,” he remarked.
Mr Davitt is calling on the Government to quickly establish the Commission on Housing to address such issues.
“It is critical that this body would have input from all stakeholders, so that past mistakes can be avoided and the major impediments that remain to building sufficient homes are addressed,” said Mr Davitt.