Leaving aside buy-to-let properties, residential property sales fell by 25% in the first three quarters of 2020, according to a report from Sherry FitzGerald.

Excluding PRS sales and new homes acquired for social housing, there were c.29,100 recorded house sales on the Property Price Register between January and September 2020, the lowest volume of sales over the first nine months of a year since 2014.

Dublin sales fell by 31% overall, more so in the new homes market, while Cork, Galway, and Limerick all noted decreases of 22% to 23%.

The report contains a detailed analysis of private Rented Sector activity.

Economist Marian Finnegan (pictured) said: “The outlook for 2021 is one of cautious optimism. The ongoing rollout of the vaccination programme should move us closer towards economic and societal normality, with the expectation at present that a large majority of the population should be vaccinated by the end of Q3 2020.

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“However, restrictions will continue to impede the housing market as long they are in place, which is likely to be for all of 2021, to some degree at least. This is particularly true for the opening part of the year as the heightened prevalence of the virus within the community required implementation of more stringent restrictions.

“It is not expected that 2021 will see any significant change in price performance, with the current dynamics underpinning the market unlikely to vary significantly. Sales activity should continue its recovery, particularly on the back of the strong rate of mortgage approvals recorded at the close of last year.”

When it comes to construction activity, Finnegan said the outlook is uncertain: “The closure of all building sites except those deemed essential will undoubtedly constrain new homes output for the year.

“While the construction industry outperformed expectations in 2020 following the initial national lockdown, final output will nevertheless be meagre in comparison to what is required. This is also likely to be the case again this year.”

Finnegan welcomed the Shared Equity Scheme, due to come into operation later this year, as having the potential to help in delivering an additional three to five thousand homes annually. “However, further government intervention is needed if the mismatch between supply and demand is to be narrowed sufficiently,” Finnegan added.

Click here to view the full report.