Westmeath property and rent hikes among highest nationwide

The average price of both buying and renting a home in Westmeath has risen substantially over the past year.

And the county saw the highest percentage rise in the sale price of apartments nationwide during the first six months of 2024, according to the latest Residential Property Price Barometer by the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV).

Prices in Westmeath were up by 14.44%, to €206,000, for a two-bedroom apartment. This was followed by Offaly up 13%, Donegal 12.69% and Kilkenny up 12.33% for similar properties. The slowest growth in prices for apartments was seen in Dublin and its commuter-belt counties like Kildare.

According to the IPAV report, prices have been on an upward trajectory since the third quarter of 2023, with overall prices for two-bedroom apartments and three and four-bedroom houses in the first six months of 2024 up by over 5% on those of the latter half of 2023, and over 8% in the year.

Apartments experienced higher levels of increases than houses, though this was coming from a low base, and the trend was seen nationwide with the exception of Dublin.

Roscommon, meanwhile, offers the most affordable four-bedroom semi-detached houses in the country, at €228,750, though this price rose by 5.8% in the first half of this year, and by 38.6% since 2017.

IPAV chief executive Pat Davitt said the rise in population combined with a severe and pent-up lack of supply of homes has led to prices continuing to edge higher.

“It’s hardly surprising that the issue of the supply of homes and affordability is shaping up to be the number one issue in the country as we head for the forthcoming general election,” he said.

Meanwhile, the average rental price in both Westmeath and Roscommon has increased by over 12% over the past year. This has led to an average rental price of €1,655 in Westmeath and €1,349 in Roscommon, according to the latest rental price report from leading property website Daft.ie.

The rental price increases seen in the two counties were significantly higher than the average national increase of 7.3%.

The Daft.ie report shows that, in Westmeath, the average cost of a one-bed apartment is €1,048, up 7.7%. A two-bed house costs on average €1,271, up 8%. A three-bed property is €1,497, up 10.4%, and a four-bed house €1,744, up 12.1%.

In Roscommon, the highest rises in rent are for smaller properties. A one-bed apartment will cost €827, up 6.9%. A two-bed house will cost €983, up 3.7% and a three-bed house costs €1,148, also up 6.9%.

Meanwhile, rents for larger houses in Roscommon are only up marginally, with four-bed homes costing €1,245 and five-beds €1,337, both seeing average rises of less than 1%.

According to Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the report, the findings paint a negative picture nationwide, as “sixteen months of improving availability are over.”

On August 1, there were just over 2,200 homes available to rent across the country, effectively unchanged on the same date a year previously and half the 2015-2019 average of 4,400.

Lyons acknowledged that “almost all of the new rental supply was confined to the capital, because of high construction costs”.

He added that supply was “the single most important determinant of rental level,” and, when supply is low, rental costs will be high.

“The solution is new supply of market rental homes, in large volumes, in each and every rental market in the country,” he said.