Property advisers DNG said the recent changes in Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) announced by the Government was likely to lead to more landlords exiting the market.
But the squeeze on buyers is illustrated by the fact that four out of 10 homes offered for sale in Dublin are already sale-agreed when they are put on the market.
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – June 25th
Despite the slight increase in the number of homes available, average house prices have continued to soar.
The average house price has now topped €300,000 nationally and €600,000 in Dublin as prices continue to rise, according to the latest residential market review from DNG.
In the 12 months to June, its national price gauge recorded an increase in residential property prices of 8.7pc.
This is the same rate of increase recorded by the estate agency in the full year to last December.
Outside Dublin, there was a rise of 8pc in prices in the year to this month. This compares with a rate of 9.6pc in the year to December.
DNG chief executive Keith Lowe said his firm’s research showed that, in the first six months of this year, 19pc of all homes sold in the capital were by landlords leaving the rental sector.
“Early indications since the recent government announcement on their proposed reforms of the rental sector are very concerning and will lead to a sharp increase in the number of landlords exiting the market,” he said.
The main issue facing landlords would be that many would no longer be able to terminate a lease in order to sell the property with vacant possession.
We expect the sales of investment properties to spike
Mr Lowe said this would force small landlords to wait six years to get vacant possession.
He said the changes on the way on RPZs would mean large landlords would have to sell with a tenant in situ at a discounted price.
“We therefore expect the sales of investment properties to spike in the short to medium term as landlords decide to exit the sector,” he said.
DNG said home buyers in Dublin were facing ‘roadblocks’ because a proportion of the houses offered were already sale-agreed.
An analysis by DNG found that 43pc of the total stock currently offered for sale is already sale-agreed. This is up from 39.4pc in May.
Mr Lowe said: “The strength of demand measure rose consistently in the second half of 2024 and hit a high of 48.8pc in January 2025 before easing gradually in the February to May period this year.”
He said this period coincided with an increase in the number of properties available for sale.
But with buyers keen to secure purchases, the percentage of homes that are sale-agreed still rose in June compared with May.
This means there were more homes on the market, but also that more homes were marked sale-agreed.
This would help explain why residential property prices were still rising, but the rate at which they were increasing was levelling off, DNG said.
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