There was more bad news for house hunters this week when a national survey carried out by Real Estate Alliance indicated that the price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Louth has increased from €290,000 to to €297,500 in the last three months. That's a rise of 2.6% in the first quarter of the year.

Across the county, the average time taken to sell is currently three weeks, the Q1 REA Average House Price Index shows.

“2025 has started off with a distinct lack of supply, resulting in active bidding which is translating into sale agreed prices in excess of asking prices,” said Darina Collins of REA O’Brien Collins, Drogheda.

In Drogheda, average prices rose 1.6pc this quarter to an average of €310,000, while in Dundalk prices rose by 3.6pc to an average of €285,000.

“We have seen a huge increase in enquiries this quarter,” said Michael Gunne of REA Gunne Property, Dundalk.

The survey shows that across the county, 75pc of purchasers were first-time buyers, while a total of 13pc of sales in the county this quarter were attributed to landlords leaving the market.

Additionally, agents across the county reported that the BER ratings of properties saw A-rated properties command 25pc price increases in comparison to comparable C-rated properties.

The REA Average House Price Index concentrates on the sale price of Ireland's typical stock home, the three-bed semi, giving an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide.

The actual selling price of a three-bed, semi-detached house across the country rose by 2.5pc in the past three months to €338,847, and 10pc overall annually.

Three-bed semis in Dublin’s suburbs are reaching sale agreed in days as a wave of mortgage approved buyers turn their focus from apartments to family homes, the survey has found.

Actual selling prices in Dublin city rose by 3pc in the last three months, and the average three-bed semi in the capital is now selling at €558,250 – a rise of almost €50,000 in the past year.

Prices in the major cities outside the capital rose by an average of 3pc to €355,250 in the last three months – an annual rate of increase of 8pc.

Homes in the country’s large towns continue to show the biggest annual growth nationwide, 2.9pc this quarter and 13pc on last March to an average of €256,576.

The absence of new home building, and historically low supply has seen three bed semi-detached homes in parts of Donegal, Kerry, Mayo, Offaly and Roscommon increase by over 23pc in the past year.

Homes in commuter counties rose by 1.9pc over the past three months to an average of €350,278, an annual rise of 9pc.