The average price of a second-hand home in Dublin is now close to €600,000, according to estate agent DNG.

The company’s latest internal price gauge suggests second-hand values in the capital rose by 1.9 per cent in the first three months of the year “as strong demand combined with the very low level of available stock on the market served to drive prices higher”.

It said the average price of a resale property in the capital was now €593,936, an increase of more than €50,000 from the same period last year.

The annual rate of house price inflation in Dublin was estimated at 9.6 per cent for the 12 months to the end of March. The Central Statistics Office put the annual rate of inflation (nationally) at 8.1 per cent for the 12 months to January. The latter is based on actual sales prices as opposed to asking prices.

DNG’s barometer suggested the strongest rate of growth was in west Dublin with prices increasing by 2.8 per cent on average over the first three months of the year, compared to rates of 1.9 per cent on Dublin’s southside and 1.4 per cent on the northside of the city.

“We are witnessing competitive bidding by multiple parties on the vast majority of homes offered for sale so far this year,” chief executive Keith Lowe said.

He also noted that in the first quarter of the year, sales were agreed at an average of 6.5 per cent above asking price, and that 87 per cent of the sales agreed in the period were at or above the property’s asking price.

“The historically low levels of supply coming to the resale market in recent times remains a grave concern for the residential property [market and] has resulted in strong competition for available properties, meaning prices are being pushed upwards, particularly for properties in walk-in condition with good energy efficiency ratings,” Mr Lowe said.

A report by property website Daft.ie earlier in the week suggested asking prices for homes nationally rose by an average of 3.7 per cent during the first three months of 2025. It said the number of second-hand homes available to buy across the country as of March 1st was fewer than 9,300, the lowest total it has recorded in a series extending back to January 2007.

Separate data from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) indicated that a total of 3,420 mortgages were approved in February this year with first-time buyers (FTBs) accounting for 61.5 per cent of the total.

The BPFI said the number of mortgages approved rose by 0.7 per cent month-on-month and fell by 4.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, suggesting that “mortgage approvals remain stable despite slowdown in activity in February”.

“Housing demand remains strong, but supply constraints means that competition between prospective buyers could intensify in the months ahead,” it said.

The BPFI data suggests average FTB and mover purchase values reached their highest levels on record at €322,050 and €375,495.

“Today’s figures indicate that mortgage approvals remain stable despite an overall slowdown in activity in February 2025,” BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said

“While volumes were down 4.5 per cent year-on-year, with the most significant drop seen in mover purchasers down by 9.9 per cent, the value of mortgage approvals continued to grow reaching €1.01 billion, up 6.6 per cent on the same period last year,” he said.