Sale prices for homes throughout the county and country have continued their upward trajectory in the first six months of 2025 – with an overall increase of 5.05% in the period, a half percentage point ahead of the 4.55% increase in the previous six months.

Galway City saw three-bedroom homes up by 3.01% to €427,500 over the first half of the year, while four-bedroom homes increased by an average of 3.83% to €475,000 and two-bedroom apartments rose by 5.26% to €300,000.

The equivalent figures in the county saw three-bedroom homes up by 6.51% to €274,000; four-bedroom homes rise by 4.45% to €340,000 and two-bedroom apartments up by 6.51% to €180,000.

This is according to the IPAV’s Residential Property Price Barometer which charts prices actually achieved by auctioneers every six months for three and four-bedroom semi-detached homes and two-bedroom apartments.

Nationally, a number of market segments showed increases of less than three per cent, primarily in Dublin.

In terms of prices, Longford had the cheapest homes in the country at €220,000 in the three-bedroom category, followed by Roscommon at €223,750 and Donegal at €225,000.

“Prices have been on the up since the third quarter of 2023.  It is not positive from the perspective of aspiring buyers, or indeed for the State, that increases of this magnitude would continue indefinitely,” said IPAV Chief Executive Genevieve McGuirk.

She said what’s worrying is “the supply and demand balance has been seriously out of kilter for a considerable period, and latest data is not encouraging.”

Institutional investment in residential property fell by 80 per cent in 2023 and 2024, according to the Central Bank.  And while new dwelling completions in Q2 2025 showed a rise of 35% on the same period last year, commencement notices in the first seven months of 2025 are down substantially.

Ms McGuirk said all hope now rests with the Government and its much-anticipated new housing plan.

“We have to embrace new thinking. Above all, we must see coherence of policy across Government and State agencies to break down impediments so that housing policy better delivers socially and economically,” she said.