Prices predicted to grow by eight per cent in 2025 - REA

The price of the average second-hand, three-bed, semi-detached house in County Cavan is predicted to increase by eight per cent in 2025, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance (REA).

Three-bed semis in the county now cost an average of €192,500, up eight per cent on the December 2023 average of €177,500, the Q4 REA Average House Price Index shows.

Ballyconnell prices rose 9.4% in 2024 to €175,000; while prices in Cavan Town rose by 7.7% to €210,000 per unit.

"We have seen very little change heading into the end of the year, and have encountered the same problems with lack of supply,” said James Spring of REA Donohoe Spring.

“There are very few numbers of new three-bed, semi homes being built, and they are achieving significantly higher prices than second-hand stock, and those purchases are mostly help-to-buy assisted.

“Demand for homes to buy and rent has increased, and we expect what does come up for sale in 2025 to sell well and quickly.

“We are seeing excellent demand in Cavan Town, with some new development and demand still outstripping supply.”

The REA Average House Price Index concentrates on the sale price of Ireland's typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.

House prices in western counties increased at twice the rate of the east coast last year as buyers battle over the lowest supply on record, the survey found.

The absence of new home building, and historically low supply has seen three bed semi-detached homes in counties Clare, Donegal, Galway, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo increase by over €10,000 in the past 12 weeks – with an average annual rise of 16%.

This is twice the rate of increase in commuter counties, which rose by 7.5% over 2024.

The actual selling price of a three-bed, semi-detached house across the country rose by 2.1% in the past three months to €330,602, and nine per cent overall annually.

REA agents nationwide are predicting a six per cent rise in house prices in 2025.

Actual selling prices in Dublin city rose by 1.8% in the last three months, and the average three-bed semi in the capital is now selling at €542,000.

Prices in the major cities outside the capital rose by an average of two per cent to €348,000 in the last three months – an annual rate of increase of 7.7%, with agents predicting a further nine per cent rise in 2025.