House prices in the Shannonside region have jumped close to 20 percent in the last year.
The MyHome.ie housing report shows that new home buyers in many parts of the country are now paying almost 8 times the average annual income.
Its the widest gap between house prices and the average salary in over a decade.
Those hoping to purchase a 4 bedroom semi detached home in Leitrim saw the biggest increase between quarters 4 in 2021 and 2022. The cost of a four room property rose by almost 30 percent now standing at €195,000, while a similar three bed property saw prices up 8 percent at €170,000. A 3 bed semi detached house in Roscommon increased in price by over 25 percent on average in the last 12 months, while 4 bed properties saw jumps in 12 percent up to €169,000. While significant jumps were also seen in Longford where the price of a 3 bed home rose to €131,000 and a 4 bed increased to €150,000, jumps of 19 and 14 percent respectively
Report author, Chief Economist at Davy, Conall MacCoille, said that these stretched valuations could be exacerbated by the Central Bank's decision to ease mortgage lending rules
"So effectively for the past five or six years, the central bank has kept households in check, stopped them taking on high levels of debt, and held back house prices. That's going to change from today. From today that 3.5 times threshold has increased for first time buyers to 4 times and as first-time buyers can take on more debt, and compete for house prices with that debt, that's likely to add momentum to house price inflation as we go through year. The central bank itself has estimated a change in the rules could add 8% to add prices".
