I recently came across an article with this heading which I wrote for the local print media 25 years ago.

I was surprised to see that so little has changed in that quarter of a century!! Here is an extract.

A common concern that is regularly voiced by clients is whether property values can hold at their current levels?

Much of the current prevailing hype has been contributed to by the national media with plentiful anecdotes about accelerating prices. This hype tends to neglect that Dublin and Galway do not constitute the entire picture.

So, what of the rest of the country – Mayo in particular?

The larger urban centres are showing strong demand with an under supply of certain categories of housing. This naturally means very healthy appreciation in house values from year to year. An example of this is in Castlebar town where there is a very strong demand for semi-detached estate type houses with increases of 15% over last year being commonplace”

As we enter the final months of 2022, there are concerns being voiced in the medial about over valuation and rising interest rates.

Certainly, rising interest rates will have a dampening effect on the enthusiasm of both house buyers and lenders.

However, set against a backdrop of (a) hyper inflation in rental costs and a non-existent supply (as I write there are 12 units available in the Castlebar area and nothing below €1,000 per month!) and (b) A serious shortage of suitable houses to buy, I cannot see any falling off in prices locally in the short to medium term.

As the general public and our politicians agonise how to fix this, are there any solutions?

My next post will look at possible solutions.