Irish Property Wealth Report 2017 | Daft.ie

Owning a home is, for the vast majority of us, the closest we'll ever come to being millionaires. Over two thirds of Irish households own the home they live in and the majority of these dwellings have six-figure valuations: the average property nationwide was worth €230,000 in the first quarter of 2017. Granted, this was substantially less than the average home was worth ten years ago - €370,000 - but it is also 40% higher than the average home was worth just five years ago (€165,000). This report looks at property wealth around the country and how it has changed in recent years. The Daft.ie Report typically thinks of the country as broken up into 54 different markets: the 22 postal districts of Dublin, North, South and West Dublin, the four other cities, and then the 25 other counties (excluding the city areas).

Top 10 most rexpensive streets%

The top and bottom five contain few surprises for most. South County Dublin is the most expensive market in the country, with an average property value of almost €550,000. Dublin 6, Dublin 4 and Dublin 6W also have average property values over half a million euro, while Dublin 14 rounds out the top five. The cheapest five markets in the country are concentrated in the North-West: in Longford, the average property value is €117,000, while in Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon and Mayo, property values are also €140,000 or less. Comparing these 54 markets now to five years, though, reveals some significant changes. Previously less fashionable parts of Dublin - in particular Dublin 10 and Dublin 1 - have seen their rank rise. Dublin 10 was the 4th cheapest part of the country five short years ago but has risen 16 places and is now the 35th most expensive market. Similarly, Dublin 1 has gone from 33rd most expensive market to 22nd. But the gainers are not limited to Dublin. Counties Kilkenny, Wexford and Westmeath have all risen by seven places in the last five years and are now ranked the 30th, 34th and 38th most expensive markets in the country respectively.

On average 12 residential properties worth 1 million or more are sold every week

But for every market rising up the ranks, there has to be another falling. Dublin 17 fell 11 places to 28th while a number of counties in rural Munster also saw falls. Kerry, Limerick county and Tipperary all fell 10 places (to 39th, 42nd and 46th), while Waterford county also fell, from 27th to 33rd. The report also drills into the almost-400 micro-markets that form the foundation of each Daft.ie Report. The most expensive market in the country is Sandycove, where the average property value is almost €790,000. In Foxrock and in Mount Merrion, property values are also €750,000 or higher. The most expensive markets outside Ireland's main cities are Enniskerry in Leinster (€495,000), Kinsale in Munster (€309,000) and Kinvara in Connacht-Ulster (€257,000). The cheapest market in the country is Ballaghaderreen in Roscommon, where the average property value is just €58,000. The methodology of underpinning the analysis also allows an estimate of the total number of property millionaires in Ireland. For each of the 389 micro-market in the country, the average value of 25 main property types, from 1-bed apartment to 5-bed detached, is calculated. Of those almost 10,000 property segments, just 43 had an average value of at least €1m.

Estimated number of residential property millionaires by area

Using Census information and the Daft.ie listings archive, it is estimated that there are over 3,800 property millionaires in these areas, from the owners of four-bed semi-detached properties in Sandycove to the owners of five-bed detached homes in Clontarf. These figures are based on averages for particular property types and there may of course be special properties hidden away around the country. The Property Price Register gives the prices achieved by specific properties and suggests that as many as 1% of all properties in Ireland are worth €1m! With over 800 transactions of €1m or more since the start of 2016, that translates to 12 million-euro transactions each week. The Price Register also helps pinpoint Ireland's most expensive streets. Looking at residential transactions of €3m or more over the last 18 months, there are five streets that have a number of homes sell for such amounts. Two will be familiar to Monopoly enthusiasts: both Shrewsbury Road and Ailesbury Road have had three homes sell for at least €3m in the last 18 months. So too has leafy Temple Gardens, just off Palmerston Road in Dublin, while Westminster Road in Foxrock sneaks in in fifth.

Total value of all residential dwellings in Ireland

But the title of Ireland's most expensive street in 2017 goes to Herbert Park in Ballsbridge, which has seen no fewer than five properties change hands for €3m or more in the last 18 months. All told, Ireland's 1.7m occupied homes are worth almost €400bn. This is not just an interesting piece of trivia for the pub – it also suggests that a local property tax of 0.18% of the value of all homes should be bringing in €700m a year. As this report confirms, real estate is the single biggest chunk of our country's wealth.