The number of homes sold in the fourth quarter of last year fell by 8 per cent year on year as prices continued to climb, a new report from data company Geowox shows.
Geowox, which provides data on actual home sales in the Republic, offers home valuation and data services to leading mortgage lenders and investors.
Its report on the last three months of 2025 shows that 16,184 homes were sold in that time, which represented an 8 per cent decline. Dublin topped the charts at 4,948 sales, followed by Cork (1,867) and Kildare (1,031).
Apartment sales, seen as key to getting a grip on the housing crisis, were 8.9 per cent lower than the previous year.
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Urban areas experienced a 6.6 per cent decrease compared with the same quarter in 2024. Energy-efficient homes were not affected, with sales in that segment increasing by 2.4 per cent compared with the previous year.
The median home price at the end of 2025 was €390,000, up 5.4 per cent year on year. The market was stronger in urban areas, where the increase was 7.4 per cent, compared with 3.3 per cent for rural areas.
[ Property price inflation slowed to 6.6% in the year to NovemberOpens in new window ]
The number of properties selling for less than €150,000 continued to slide, with just 1,059 sales recorded.
Both apartments and houses experienced price increases compared with the same period a year earlier. The median price for an apartment was up 5 per cent to €336,000, while for a house it climbed 6.1 per cent to €400,000.
Dublin remained the most expensive region in which to buy at €499,000, followed by Wicklow at €455,000. The most affordable homes were to be found in Longford at €197,000.
Homes in Dublin were 42.6 per cent more expensive than in other counties in Ireland, where the median price was €350,000.
Within the capital, properties in the Dublin 6 postcode area were most expensive, with a median price of €850,000, followed by Dublin 6 West at €750,000 and Dublin 14 at €745,000. Meanwhile, Dublin 10 was the most affordable postcode in the county at €328,000.
Broken down by town, Dublin was again the most expensive, with a median house price of €570,000, followed by Naas at €490,000. The most affordable was Longford at €222,000.
New homes cost €440,000 on average, up 5 per cent, and nearly 24 per cent more expensive than existing homes.
Newly built homes in Co Dublin had a median price of €500,000, while Co Longford offered some of the most affordable options with a median price of €161,000 for new properties.
The report found energy-efficient homes (class A-B) may cost up to 26.8 per cent more than non-efficient homes (class C-G), commanding a €95,000 premium.
Most estimates of the number of new houses built in the State in 2025 run to about 30,000, which is about half the 60,000-70,000 that are needed. Construction is likely to increase in 2026 but there is little hope of reaching 60,000-70,000 this year, Ronan Lyons, professor in economics at Trinity College Dublin said in recent weeks.
“What will help is getting lots of new homes built and sold,” said Prof Lyons, adding that this was the only solution to the housing crisis.
Meanwhile, the new housing tsar to lead the Coalition’s Housing Activation Office (HAO) is expected to be appointed in the next eight weeks. Minister for Housing James Browne set out the timeline for the appointment this week as he launched a first call for applications for infrastructure projects aimed at unlocking sites for housing development.
The €1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund will be managed by the HAO. According to the advertisement for the tsar, the successful candidate will be tasked with driving “the Government’s efforts to increase housing supply”.
