The number of homes available to buy in Galway has plummeted this year — at the same time as prices continue to rise for those that do come to the market, a new report reveals.

There were almost one-fifth fewer homes sold in the city and county in the first three months of this year than were sold during the same period last year.

But median house prices were up by 5% in Galway as a whole — with double that increase in the city area.

January to March of 2025 was the slowest first quarter for sales in Galway since the start of the decade, according to the latest Geowox Housing Market Report.

A total of 426 houses were sold during the quarter, down 18% on last year’s first three months of sales (518) and much fewer still than in Q1 2023 (633) and Q1 2020 (559). The report does not include figures for 2021 or 2022, when market activity was slowed by the Covid pandemic.

The vast majority of those sales in Galway in the early months of this year were existing houses — only one-in-ten, or 43 of them, were new houses.

In Galway City, just 88 homes changed hands between January and March, a 25% drop on the number recorded during the same months last year — more than six times the 4% drop in sales nationally.

By comparison, sales of homes in other cities actually rose — by 3% in Dublin, 4% in Cork and 3% in Limerick, with Waterford City sales falling by a much more modest 4%.

Meanwhile, house prices continued to rise — by 5% in Galway as a whole, bringing the median selling price to €330,000, an increase of €15,000 over the year.

But price increases in the city were greater, rising by 10% to a median price of €422,000 … meaning that buyers are paying on average €37,000 more for a home than this time last year.

It continues a trend that has seen median city prices rise by 48% since 2020 — a shocking difference of €137,000 in the space of five years. The picture is not much better in the county as a whole, with prices up €97,000 in the period.

Nationally, median prices rose by 10% in the first three months of this year, with homes having a BER rating of A or B fetching a premium.

Geowox’s Head of data, Marco Giardina, said: “Median prices are steadily rising, while energy-efficient and new homes continue to command hefty premiums.”

Pictured: Marco Giardina, Geowox’s Head of data: “Median prices are steadily rising, while energy-efficient and new homes continue to command hefty premiums.”