As the COVID quarantine still impacts our daily lives by forcing people to work from home and limit public interaction, the predicted property prices in Ireland are said to skyrocket as much as 6% this upcoming year. In the newly released annual review today by The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), out of their three agents, two of them predicted an increase in property rates in 2021.
While that 6% is said to be an average across Ireland, different areas are predicted to have slightly varying inflated rates. For example, Dublin, as the area with the highest current prices, is predicted to see an average increase of 3% in property prices. But for other areas such as Leinster and Munster, are predicted to have price increases of 4% and 5 % respectively. Some areas are predicted to see price increase reflecting this past year within the range of 1-3%, yet other areas are predicted to experience price increases that could even reach 8%.
According to SCSI’s vice president; TJ Cronin, many of these seen increases in prices are said to be largely due to the “lack of supply of new and second-hand homes”, and that nearly a third of the chartered agents and auctioneers claim that the impact of COVID on the economy will be the “key drivers” in this situation.
As we have all seen in the last year the tremendous impact of COVID, a ray of hope has shown through with the recent breakthrough of the COVID-19 vaccine. But the long-term effects of COVID may not disappear as quickly as we have imagined. SCSI predicts COVID to continue to set the activity level in 2021, just like in 2020 even after the administration of the vaccine.
The impact of the quarantine on the rental sector has been huge, showing that 2020 had the lowest national annual growth rate for rent in the past 8 years. However, many experts believe this to be a one-time occurrence due to the temporary sudden increase in supply in the market due to the pandemic and limited traveling amongst consumers.
This increase in property prices sounds like a profitable case for real estate and agents. The real estate community has been booming since the beginning of the decade and shows no signs of stopping even in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Many Irish families have started to explore the financial freedoms that real estate offers. Even with the property prices rising across the nation, Mr. Cronin predicts that the sector will expand to match its continuously limited supply.
Relevant Sources:
https://scsi.ie/residential-property-review-and-outlook-2021/
https://scsi.ie/surveyors-expect-prices-of-3-bed-semis-to-rise-by-between-4-and-8-in-2016-2/
