Wicklow eclipses Dublin as most expensive county in which to buy property

Wicklow has eclipsed Dublin for the first time as the most expensive county in Ireland to buy a property. That’s according to a new report by property start-up Geowox, which also indicates that house prices nationally are continuing to rise despite the hike in borrowing costs.

The report indicated that the median or middle price paid for a home in Wicklow in the second quarter of this year was €425,000, slightly ahead of Dublin’s median value (€424,000). The next most expensive counties were Kildare (€390,000), Meath (€355,000) and Cork (€306,000).

The median price paid for a home nationally was €318,000, up 9.7 per cent on the same quarter last year.

The northwest counties of Cavan, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal were the most affordable counties in which to purchase a property, with median prices ranging from €151,000 to €185,000.

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Counties Laois, Longford and Tipperary were found to have experienced the sharpest annual increase in prices, ranging from 16.8 per cent to 22 per cent.

Geowox’s report, which is based on data from the State’s official Property Price Register, said all counties in the Republic experienced price increases over the past 12 months with the exception of Co Clare where prices were “stable”.

[ Is Greystones at capacity? ‘There is a genuine concern that the town can’t cope’ ]

Certain areas, however, experienced a downturn. Dublin 6, which includes the high-priced suburbs of Ranelagh, Rathmines and Rathgar, experienced the sharpest annual decline in median prices, which fell by almost 28 per cent.

Of the State’s main towns, Greystones-Delgany registered the sharpest decline in prices with median values falling by 15.4 per cent, “making it the town with the most substantial decline”. In contrast, Roscommon emerged as the town with the sharpest increase in prices (+30.8 per cent).

The report noted that rural homes were still experiencing “strong and robust” price growth, rising by 16.7 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, urban areas are observing lower growth at just 4 per cent. The median price of a home in rural areas was up 12.1 per cent.

The median cost of a new home was put at €410,000 compared to €290,000 for an existing home. The report noted that average cost of a new home was 41 per cent more expensive than an existing one. While existing home prices rose by 5.5 per cent year-on-year, new home prices rose by over 9 per cent.

The report noted that there were 13,378 properties sold in the second quarter, 4.8 per cent less than the same period last year.