Matt Treacy ✒ looks at the soaring house prices in Ireland.
A statistical report from Eurostat has shown that Ireland has experienced the highest increase in house prices between 2010 and 2019. Irish house prices are now 80% higher than the EU average, up from being 18% higher in 2010.
Ireland has also witnessed the third highest increase in rents over the period between the first quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2021. During that period, rents have grown by over 60% compared to an average of less than 15% across the whole of the EU.
All of that is both a consequence and a contributing factor to other notable statistics on housing and household demographics. For example, Ireland had the fourth highest drop in the number of house sales in 2020. They fell by 16.4%. A combination of house sales, prices and increasing rents has also seen the average age at which Irish people leave the parental home increase. It is now between the ages of 27 and 30, compared to an EU average of 26.4 years.
Another notable statistic is that Ireland now has one of the highest (8%) proportions of single parent households. None of that of course has been helped by the economic hit delivered by the state’s reaction to Covid-19, and the impact which restrictions have had on employment and income, as well as unquantifiable personal and social consequences. Irish workers saw the numbers of hours spent at work fall by 17% in 2020 compared to an EU average of 12%.
At the height of the lockdown, between April and June last year, the average number of hours worked by people in sales and services fell by over 40%, the third highest after Cyprus and Spain, and reflective of the massive hit taken by the tourist and hospitality sectors.
A statistical report from Eurostat has shown that Ireland has experienced the highest increase in house prices between 2010 and 2019. Irish house prices are now 80% higher than the EU average, up from being 18% higher in 2010.
Ireland has also witnessed the third highest increase in rents over the period between the first quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2021. During that period, rents have grown by over 60% compared to an average of less than 15% across the whole of the EU.
Another notable statistic is that Ireland now has one of the highest (8%) proportions of single parent households. None of that of course has been helped by the economic hit delivered by the state’s reaction to Covid-19, and the impact which restrictions have had on employment and income, as well as unquantifiable personal and social consequences. Irish workers saw the numbers of hours spent at work fall by 17% in 2020 compared to an EU average of 12%.
At the height of the lockdown, between April and June last year, the average number of hours worked by people in sales and services fell by over 40%, the third highest after Cyprus and Spain, and reflective of the massive hit taken by the tourist and hospitality sectors.