The average price of a second-hand, three-bed semi in County Wexford rose by 1% in the first three months of the year, according to the latest national survey by Real Estate Alliance.
Three-bed homes in the county now cost €252,500, up from €250,000 in December 2022, the Q1 REA Average House Price Index shows.
By concentrating on the actual sale price of three-bed semis, the survey provides an up-to-date picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.
Across County Wexford, first-time buyers made up 30% of the market during Q1 with 35% of buyers coming from the cities.
The average time taken to complete a sale in the county is four weeks, the same as the previous quarter, the survey shows.
In Wexford town, the average cost of a three-bed semi is now €237,500, up 1.06% from €235,000 in the previous quarter, while the time to sell dropped one week to three.
The average cost of a similar property in Gorey is now €267,500, up 0.94% from the previous quarter; while the time to sell fell one week to four.
“The start of 2023 has been very busy across Wexford, with good demand for all property types across the county,” said Winston Halnon of REA Halnon Humphreys, Gorey.
“It is noticeable in the early part of the year how there is a preference among buyers for properties with little work to be done and that are in walk-in condition.
“This may be down to the price of materials and tradespeople or perhaps buyers are just far more time conscious.
“Bidding wars have become less prevalent with the odd exception. Most properties are going sale agreed quite quickly and in a lot of cases with just one bidder.
“The amount of viewers may be less than previous years, however, the end result is much the same.
“Ex-rental properties continue to make up a lot of the stock for sale, which is a trend that hopefully is on the wane.
“Energy efficiency continues to be the key focus for buyers also and there are premiums to be seen for new properties and those that have upgraded second hand homes.”
Across the rest of Ireland, the actual selling price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached rose by 0.6% over the past three months to €293,343 – representing an annual increase of 5.3%.
House prices in Dublin recovered after a pre-Christmas fall and rose by 0.5% to €498,333 in the past three months, slightly exceeding last September’s prices and showing an annual rise of 3.5%.
Mirroring the capital, cities outside Dublin experienced a 0.4% rise to an average selling price of €310,250.
The smallest percentage increases came in commuter counties where average prices went from €312,778 to €313,056 – a rise of just 0.1% on average over three months.
The country’s large towns saw the largest quarterly increase at 1%, with prices now averaging €211,776 and properties selling faster at an average of five weeks, than in cities or commuter areas.
Nationally, first-time purchasers make up 60% of the market, the quarterly survey has found.
The actual selling price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by 0.6% over the past three months to €293,343 – representing an annual increase of 5.3%.
