The average secondhand home price in the capital is now almost €600,000, after prices rocketed by €50,000 in a year.

Strong demand combined with “the very low level of available stock on the market” has driven the average price of a resale property in Dublin to €593,936.

The price is an increase of more than €50,000 from 12 months ago, according to DNG’s latest House Price Gauge released yesterday.

However, the price is not a new peak and is around €100,000 below the previous DNG recorded high of €700,000 in 2006, at the height of Celtic Tiger property boom.

A separate report from Daft.ie this week warned that the number of second-hand homes for sale has dipped below 10,000 for the first time since 2007 – with just 9,300 on the market.

DNG director Paul Murgatroyd said: “We’re not back at peak levels on our index. We’re close and it depends on property type and style. Some are back at the peak but some more expensive properties aren’t.

“For example, 2006 was the peak price and on our index that was around €700,000, which was a ridiculous number and you could see why stuff collapsed thereafter.”

A 1.9% price increase was seen in the first three months of this year, the equivalent of 7.8% over a year.

However, Mr Murgatroyd does not believe the market is as “frothy” as it was during the boom.

The latest current annual price rise in Dublin is 7.5%, according to the CSO, and the high “sold” prices are being driven by multiple bidders on properties because of the shortage of homes on the market.

“It’s different market conditions. The banks have got the lending under control.

“This is just the weight of money in the market at the moment and lack of property,” Mr Murgatroyd said.

House-hunters have the funds to pay the elevated prices from a combination of savings accrued while living with their parents at home, cash gifts, and unspent money saved from the Covid lockdowns, he said.

“I’d be worried if the market was stalling at that level but it’s not. People are still in the game,” he added.

The rate of house price inflation in Dublin was 9.6% for the year to the end of March, the same as the annual rate recorded in 2024, and the highest annual rate of price appreciation recorded by DNG in more than three years.

The strongest price growth was in west Dublin, with prices increasing by 2.8% on average, compared to 1.9% on the southside and 1.4% on the northside.

“As a result, prices in west Dublin are now only 1.3% below the previous peak recorded by the House Price Gauge (HPG) in 2006, and have risen in this area by 160% since the last market low point in 2012.

“The annual rate of price inflation recorded by the HPG to the end of March 2025 stands at 10.9% in south Dublin, 8.6% in north Dublin and 7.8% in west Dublin,” the DNG report said.

The market is being supported by first-time buyers who bought almost half – 49% – of the properties analysed over the three months.

Mortgage borrowing has reached new records too, with the average first-time buyer loan now at €322,050 and second and subsequent buyers at €375,495, according to new Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) figures.

BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes said: “Average first-time buyer and mover-purchaser values reached their highest levels since the data series began in 2011, at €322,050 and €375,495, respectively.

“This reflects higher housing prices across the country, which increased by 8.1% in the 12 months to January 2025, according to the Central Statistics Office.”