House sales to first-time buyers slumped in Galway in the first half of 2018, with only 228 properties sold to first time buyers.
That’s a significant drop from 307 sales filed with Revenue in the last six months of 2017 according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.
The average price of a home for a first time buyer in Galway has risen just under 6% this year, an increase of €13,337 from January when the average price was €231,425.
New homes saw their prices go up more dramatically from €258,884 in January to €309,254 in June, an increase of 20%.
While existing properties sold to a first time buyer actually saw a slight drop in prices in the first half of 2018.
In total, far more existing properties were sold to first time buyers in Galway between January and June (182), compared with new dwellings (46).
Residential property sales for first time buyers worth 51.7 million were filed throughout Galway in the first six months of the year.
The biggest month for sales was in June when 46 properties worth €11.3 million were sold. May saw slightly more homes moved, 47, but those sales came to €9.4 million.
The most expensive place in Ireland to buy a home is Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown in Dublin according to the CSO.
Between July 2017 and June 2018, the average price of a home was €600,000, while the least expensive place to buy in Ireland is Longford, where a home averaged a price of just €104,153.
Nationally, 12,905 properties were sold to a first time buyer between July 2017 and June 2018, 30% of all sales filed.
