New-build house prices in Westmeath ‘out of control’
The average price of a new-build home in Westmeath was over €365,000 in the final quarter of 2023.
The figures, which emerged in the latest Daft.ie property price report, have been described as “out of control”, by Sinn Féin Longford/Westmeath TD Sorca Clarke.
She said: “There is now almost a 30% difference between the price of an average new home and overall average prices. Statewide the price of an average new home is €407k, €80k more expensive than the average for new and second-hand homes combined.
"In Westmeath the average price of a new build home is now €366,583.
"The gap between new and second hand homes is enormous and growing. This is a direct consequence of bad Government policy, demand side subsidies such as so called 'Help to Buy', and the controversial Shared Equity Loan scheme, all pushing up new house prices.”
The Daft.ie report showed that in Westmeath, prices in the final three months of 2023 were 1% higher than a year previously, compared to a rise of 7% seen a year ago. The average price of a home is now €265,000, 10% below its Celtic Tiger peak.
The firm adds that nationally, housing prices during 2023 rose by an average of 3.4%, the smallest increase since 2019.
In Roscommon, prices in the final three months of 2023 were 7% higher than a year previously, compared to a rise of 12% seen a year ago. The average price of a home is now €207,000, 18% below its Celtic Tiger peak.
The average price of a new build in Roscommon is €252,350.
Daft.ie stated that the number of homes available to buy nationwide on December 1 stood at just over 11,100, a figure that is down 27% year-on-year and is the lowest since March 2022. It is also less than half the 2019 average of 24,200.
Daft.ie also found that new-build homes had a median price of €366,583 in Westmeath in the final quarter, which was €66k more than in neighbouring Longford and €46k more than in Offaly.
Clarke said “the Government's failure to deliver on their embarrassingly low affordable purchase targets is making the crisis worse.
"Government policy must shift to bringing the price of new homes down. They must end policies that push up house prices and they must increase and accelerate the delivery of genuinely affordable homes by Local Authorities and AHBs, at prices that working people can genuinely afford."