Housing Supply Depletes to Further Record Levels

The stock of houses available for sale is now at the lowest level on record, according to the latest analysis by Sherry FitzGerald Research.  There were only 14,400 second - hand properties listed for sale nationwide in January 2022.  This represents a 6.7% fall over the past twelve months, with over 1,000 fewer properties available for sale.  Since January 2020, immediately prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the stock of second-hand properties for sale has fallen by nearly 30%.  

Following this further deterioration in in stock, the total volume of properties advertised for sale in January 2022 represented just 0.7% of the overall total private housing stock.

According to Marian Finnegan, Managing Director, Sherry FitzGerald; “The imbalance between supply and demand remains the foremost obstacle facing the housing market. This is crystalised by the fact that in January, the lowest number of second-hand properties were advertised for sale nationwide since we began recording in 2010.  With just 0.7% of stock available for sale nationwide and only 0.6% in the Dublin market, upward pressure on prices is likely to persist in the months ahead.”

In Dublin, supply is down by 1% year-on-year, with approximately 3,150 properties available for sale. Supply across the four local authorities varied, with Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown & South County Dublin recording increases in supply, while Fingal saw stock advertised for sale deplete by over 12%. Overall, levels in Dublin remain severely constrained, with just 0.6% of total stock available.

Stock is particularly tight at lower price categories. Indeed, the sub €200,000 price category has seen the greatest contraction in supply with just 4,500 such properties available across Ireland. This represents a fall of over 40% in just two years.

Dublin saw the largest deterioration  in the sub €200,000 market. This price category has seen supply levels fall by 33.5% year-on-year, with just 109 properties of this type available in the capital as of January 2022. There has also been a decline in availability of properties for sale in the €500,000 to €750,000 price category in Dublin, almost 9%.

The regional cities have also seen variation in supply levels. Cork city saw a reduction in stock of 12.3%, while in Limerick & Galway city, increases of 9.6% and 3.7% respectively were recorded.

Sligo saw the largest decrease in supply of any county, down 24.5%, closely followed by Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow with decreases of just over 23% each.

All four provinces saw supply diminish over the year, with stock falling by 9.6% in Connacht and 6.7%, 6.2% and 3.7% in Munster, Leinster and Ulster respectively.