More buyers are passing over second-hand homes in favour of new builds

Demand for brand new homes has led to their prices shooting up by more than 10pc in the year to September.

But the price of second-hand properties fell by 1pc in the same period, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) property price index.

Goodbody Stockbrokers economist Dermot O’Leary said the gap in pricing between new and second-hand homes was the largest since 2010 when the price index began.

He said the buyer preference for new homes was due to their energy efficiency.

Higher cost increases of carrying out work on older homes was also a factor.

And state supports for first-time buyers was also a major incentive to buy a new home as the First Home scheme and the Help-to-Buy tax refund only apply to new homes.

A shortage of new homes overall was also contributing to the trend of rising new home prices and falling second-hand homes.

Across the State, property prices for new and second-hand homes continued to rise nationally in September, but the slowdown continues in Dublin.

Prices rose by 1.4pc in the year to September 2023, with prices in Dublin decreasing by 1.9pc.

Outside Dublin, prices were up by 4pc, the Central Statistics Office said.

It was the fourth consecutive national monthly increase.

For the month of September, prices were up 0.8pc compared with the previous month across the State.

Higher mortgage interest rates have been blamed for the fall in prices in Dublin, with high-end homes showing the biggest declines.

It was the fifth month in a row of price declines in Dublin.

In September, 4,255 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with the Revenue Commissioners. This is down by 7.2pc when compared with the 4,583 purchases in September last year.

Residential property prices of new dwellings in the third quarter of this year were 10.4pc higher than in the corresponding quarter last year.

This compares with an increase of 11pc in the year to the second quarter and an increase of 9.1pc in the four quarters to September last year.

Prices of existing dwellings in the third quarter were 1pc lower than in the corresponding quarter of last year.

The median price of a dwelling purchased in September was €320,000.

The lowest median price for a house was €160,000 in Longford, while the highest median price was €635,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.

The most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to September this year was in Blackrock, Co Dublin, with a median price of €735,000.

The least expensive property was in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, with a price of €130,000, the CSO said.

The national index is now 3.9pc above its highest level at the peak of the property boom in April 2007.

Dublin residential property prices are 7.5pc lower than their February 2007 peak. Residential property prices in the rest of Ireland are 5.1pc higher than their May 2007 peak.

In the year to September, 50,359 dwelling purchases by households at market prices were filed with Revenue.

A third of these were purchased by first-time buyer owner-occupiers.