Tipperary TD says figures show new house prices in the Premier County are 'out of control'

Tipperary Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne has said that new house prices in Tipperary are "out of control" and the Government's failure to deliver affordable homes is "making the crisis worse".

He was responding to the latest Daft.ie house price report which shows that the median price of a new build home in Tipperary is €320,400.

"The Daft.ie report on house prices in Q4 2023 shows that the price of an average home continues to rise. Across the state the price of an average home rose 3.4% in the last 12 months to €320k. In Tipperary, the average price of a home is now €242,002, having risen 8.6% year-on-year," he said.

The report also highlighted a worrying drop in the number of homes listed in December compared with the previous year, by a significant 27%, he said.

"However, the most startling fact in the report is the price of new build homes. There is now almost a 30% difference between the price of an average new home and overall average prices. Statewide the price of an average new home is €407k, €80k more expensive than the average for new and second-hand homes combined.

"In Tipperary the average price of a new build home is now €320,400," said the Sinn Féin TD.

Deputy Browne said that the gap between new and secondhand homes was "enormous and growing", saying that this was a direct consequence of bad Government policy, demand side subsidies such as "so called Help to Buy", and the controversial Shared Equity Loan scheme, all pushing up new house prices.

"Meanwhile, the Government's failure to deliver on their embarrassingly low affordable purchase targets is making the crisis worse.

"Government policy must shift to bringing the price of new homes down. They must end policies that push up house prices and they must increase and accelerate the delivery of genuinely affordable homes by Local Authorities and AHBs, at prices that working people can genuinely afford," he said.