News Archives - Page 7 of 642 - Pat Carroll PCCO - Chartered Accountants & Tax Advisors

Asking prices for homes nationally rose by an average of 3.7% during the first three months of 2025, according to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report.

The study suggests the typical listed price across the country in the first quarter of the year was €346,048, which is 11.6% higher than the same time last year and 35% higher than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It found that the current rate of inflation in the market is the second-highest seen in the ten years since mortgage market rules were introduced, exceeded only by the spike in prices seen in early 2017.

According to Daft, the surge in inflation is being driven by Dublin and the rest of Leinster.

It said inflation in the capital is now running at 12.2%, the highest rate in eight years, while in the rest of Leinster, the annual increase in prices is 13.4%, also the highest since early 2017.

The report found that Galway (13.2%) and Limerick cities (13.8%) are also seeing rates of inflation above the national average, while the rate seen in Waterford (11.2%) and Cork cities (9.2%) is slower.

Daft said the average list price for a home in Dublin is now €460,726, compared with €409,482 for Galway city, and €358,676 for Cork city.

The sharp increases in asking prices are coming at a time of very tight supply, with the study finding that the number of second-hand homes available to buy across the country on 1 March was fewer than 9,300.

This figure is down 17% year-on-year and also marks the lowest total ever recorded in a series extending back to January 2007.

Report author and economist at Trinity College Dublin Ronan Lyons said the increases are “clearly linked to the lack of second-hand supply.

“Even as transactions of newly-built homes increase, the second-hand market is at its tightest in a series going back almost two decades.

“The latest surge in inflation is due, at least in part, to the well-flagged increase in interest rates, which saw existing homeowners fix their rates, often for many years, with consequences for liquidity in the second-hand market.

“But while the increase in interest rates has played a role, the underlying issue remains the housing deficit.”

“The mortgage market rules were introduced a decade ago to prevent a repeat of the loose lending that drove Ireland’s Celtic Tiger bubble and crash. Nonetheless, prices are up 75% since then, not because of too much credit but because of too few homes,” Mr Lyons added.

Article Source – Asking prices for homes rise by average of 3.7% in first quarter – report – RTE

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The body which manages the electricity grid says demand is expected to grow by 45% from its 2023 level to 2034 and the peak requirement for power will rise by 24% over the same period.

EirGrid says there will be a “challenging outlook” between this year and 2027 until new sources of power come on stream.

It adds much of the growth in demand will come from data centres, electrification of heat and transport from increased use of heat pumps and electric vehicles.

New technologies which use significant amounts of power in the information technology sector will also add to the requirement for more energy.

In its All-Island Resource Adequacy Assessment report, EirGrid says in order to manage the increased demand it has access to temporary emergency generation capacity.

It says this can be “called upon in the event of a shortfall in capacity and where alerts on the system are likely.”

This means that power stations in Dublin at North Wall and Huntstown, Tarbert in Co Kerry and Shannonbridge in Co Offaly can be brought online with 15 minutes notice.

EirGrid can also use power from Moneypoint in Co Clare until March 2029.

It is expected that access to power will be boosted when the Celtic Interconnector between Ireland and France becomes operational along with new gas capacity in 2027 and 2028.

EirGrid says data centres and new technologies will use 27% of electricity this year but will rise to 31% of demand by 2034.

The proportion of overall electricity demand from heat pumps is estimated to increase from 3% in 2025 to 10% by 2034, while the proportion of overall demand from electric cars will rise from 1% to 8% during the same period.

The report says the electricity industry will have to find new ways to meeting the increasing need for energy without relying mainly on burning fossil fuels.

It also notes the Programme for Government puts emphasis on accelerating housing supply which will increase electricity requirements.

Ireland recorded a new peak demand in electricity of 6,024 megawatts on January 8, 2025. This was the first time the peak electricity demand passed the 6,000 megawatt mark.

Demand first passed 5,000 megawatts during the extreme cold snap of December 2010.

By 2034 EirGrid’s analysis shows demand will be above 7,000 megawatts.

Article Source – Electricity demand set to grow 45% between now and 2034 – RTE

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The case for another European Central Bank interest rate cut is strengthening, ECB board member Piero Cipollone said today, just days after another prominent policy dove made a similar argument.

The ECB has cut interest rates six times since last June but provided few signals about its next move after the most recent reduction at its March meeting, arguing that uncertainty is simply too high for the bank to guide markets.

Economic conditions have shifted since that meeting, however, Cipollone argued, and inflation may be coming down quicker than expected.

“Key issues have arisen that have strengthened the arguments in favour of continuing to lower rates,” he said in an interview with Spanish newspaper Expansion. “We are likely to reach our inflation objective sooner than our latest projections indicate.”

Greek central bank chief Yannis Stournaras made a similar argument on Friday, arguing that everything was pointing in the direction of a cut in April.

Cipollone said that energy prices have fallen significantly since the March 6 meeting, the euro has appreciated and real rates have increased, all contributing to a faster drop in inflation.

“And if the United States were to impose tariffs on European exports, that would have a negative impact on demand, which would further strengthen the downward trend in inflation,” he said.

“Trade tensions between China and the United States could lead to China redirecting its products to the European market, increasing the downward pressure on prices,” he added.

Financial markets see a roughly 60% chance of a rate cut in April but a move by June is fully priced in. Investors then see another cut, probably in December, taking the ECB’s deposit rate to 2% by the close of 2025.

Article Source – ECB board member makes case for more interest rate cuts – RTE

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Euro zone business activity grew at its fastest pace in seven months in March, supported by an easing in the long-running manufacturing downturn despite slower growth in services, a survey showed.

The improving business climate in the common currency bloc could gain more traction over the coming months as plans for a spending splurge in infrastructure and defence, particularly in Germany, raise optimism for a turnaround in Europe’s economic fortunes.

HCOB’s preliminary composite euro zone Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to 50.4 this month from February’s 50.2, its highest since August.

It has remained above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction since the start of this year.

Growth in activity was still meagre, however, and the index was below a prediction in a Reuters poll for a rise to 50.8.

An index measuring the bloc’s dominant services industry declined to 50.4 from last month’s 50.6, below the Reuters poll forecast of 51.

But a near three-year-long contraction in manufacturing eased and its headline PMI increased to an over two-year high of 48.7 from 47.6 in February. The Reuters poll had predicted it at 48.2.

An index measuring factory output that feeds into the composite PMI showed expansion for the first time in two years. It jumped to 50.7 from 48.9, its highest since May 2022.

“Just in time with the beginning of spring we may see the first green shoots in manufacturing,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank.

“While we should not be carried away by a single data point, it is noteworthy that manufacturers expanded their output for the first time since March 2023.”

Faced with higher costs, manufacturing firms raised prices charged. Both input and output inflation hit their highest in seven months. However, prices grew at a slower pace in the services sector.

In a sign of improving sentiment among businesses, employment generation gathered pace this month. The composite employment index rose to 50.1 from 49.2, above breakeven for the first time in eight months.

Article Source – Euro zone economy growth accelerates to seven-month high in March, PMI shows – RTE

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At least half of housing commencements in 2024 were due to uncertainty over the extension of the development levy waiver or water connection charge refund, according to the latest Housing Market Monitor for the fourth quarter of 2024, published today by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland.

More than 69,000 new homes commenced in 2024, more than the total number of homes started in 2022 and 2023 combined.

The report shows around 75,000 housing units could be completed in the next two years, based on commencement activity.

But it said inefficiencies in land, capital and labour issues must be addressed to increase housing output in the short term.

The BPFI noted that about 95,000 apartments were given planning permission between 2018 and 2022 but only 44,000 apartments were completed between 2018 and 2024.

“Today’s report shows that while there was a 6.7% decline in housing completions in 2024, solely driven by the fall in the level of apartment completions, more than 69,000 new homes commenced in 2024, more than the total number of homes started in 2022 and 2023 combined,” the chief executive of BPFI Brian Hayes said.

“Some 43% of those housing starts were apartments. However, we estimate that at least half of the total number of homes commenced during 2024 were due to the uncertainty about the extension of the development levy waiver in April (later extended until December) and water connection charge refund arrangement expiring in September,” he said.

“We believe that the completion date for the units commenced last year as well as some of the commencements from the end of 2023, will span the two-year period of 2025 and 2026, and hence we forecast a total housing output of around 75,000 units in the next two years,” he said.

“We expect a significant increase in output, particularly in the first half of this year but to reach the output levels required to meet demand, key labour, land and capital issues will need to be addressed,” he added.

Earlier this week the Central Bank said fewer homes will be built over the next two years than it had forecast earlier, due to a fall in residential construction last year.

The number of commencement notices lodged for new homes fell to 1,017 in February from 1,178 in January, new figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage also showed this week.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Bank of Ireland’s chief economist Conall MacCoille there was a surge in developers rushing to take advantage of waivers on development levies, local authority charges and water infrastructure charges, leading to a big rush big rush of commencement activity.

“I suppose developers typically go face by phase in a large housing development. What they’re doing or what they did last year was effectively was commence the entire development to make sure they can avail of that waiver,” he said.

“We’re really in the dark about where housing completions are going to end up this year. Obviously last year was a little bit disappointing and hopefully they pick up,” the economist stated.

He said he does not think that anyone expects 70,000 houses to be built, adding that the debate is really around if we will see 35,000 completions this year.

Whether that figure is 35,000 or 40,00, he said we are only “scratching the surface” of the kind of demand that is out there for housing.

Article Source – Land, capital and labour issues must be addressed to increase housing output – BPFI – RTE

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The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady today, as expected, but US central bank policymakers indicated they still anticipate reducing borrowing costs by half a percentage point by the end of this year in the context of slowing economic growth and, eventually, a downturn in inflation.

Taking stock of the Trump administration’s rollout of tariffs, Fed officials actually marked up their outlook for inflation this year, with their preferred measure of price increases expected to end the year at 2.7% versus the 2.5% pace anticipated in December.

The Fed targets inflation at 2%.

But they also marked down the outlook for economic growth for this year from 2.1% to 1.7%, with slightly higher unemployment by the end of this year.

Policymakers said risks had increased, with a near unanimous sentiment in saying the outlook for the year was muddled.

“Uncertainty around the outlook has increased,” the Fed said in a new policy statement that accounts for the first weeks of the new Trump administration and the initial rollout of what White House officials say will ultimately be global tariffs on imported goods.

The Fed left its policy rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range.

US stocks extended their gains slightly after the release of the Fed’s policy statement and projections, with the Dow Jones up 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 0.7%.

US interest rate futures priced in a cut of just over half a percentage point this year, with traders seeing a 62.1% chance of the Fed resuming rate cuts at its meeting in June, according to LSEG estimates, compared with a 57% chance before the announcement.

The dollar pared some of its earlier gains, with an index of major currencies up 0.5%. US Treasury yields also eased slightly, with the benchmark 10-year note yield up 1.7 basis points on the day to 4.298%.

“The Fed is as lost in the wilderness as the rest of us trying to decipher the continual shifts in economic policy from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Inflation Insights’ Omair Sharif, referring to the street address of the White House. “Beyond the cut to median growth this year and the boost to median inflation, the most telling aspect of the (projections) is the shift higher in uncertainty.”

Lower growth, higher unemployment

The Fed also said it will slow the ongoing drawdown of its balance sheet, known as quantitative tightening.

Fed Governor Chris Waller dissented from the policy statement because of the change in balance sheet policy.

The rate projections matched the expectations set by financial markets ahead of the meeting, and kept intact the Fed’s general outlook that gradually slowing inflation will allow further monetary policy easing.

But it may be a rockier road getting there. While not mentioning President Donald Trump or tariffs in the statement, the Fed projections for higher inflation this year coincide with the unveiling of his tariff plans.

It appeared, though, that the Fed for now is looking through the price shift involved in those import taxes, treating them as a one-off change rather than a persistent source of price pressures.

Underlying inflation beyond 2025 was unchanged from the Fed’s projections in December, expected to return to 2% by the end of 2027.

The projection for rate cuts beyond this year was also unchanged, hitting 3.1% by the end of 2027, near the level seen as having a neutral effect that neither encourages or discourages spending and investment.

The Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point last year, but has kept rates on hold this year as it waits for further evidence that inflation will continue to fall, and, more recently, for more clarity about the impact of Trump’s policies.

Compared to Trump’s promise of a coming economic “golden age” because of his push to impose tariffs, deport large numbers of immigrants and loosen regulations, the Fed’s outlook forecasts growth at 1.7% this year and just 1.8% in both 2026 and 2027, with the unemployment rate at 4.4% this year and 4.3% in 2026 and 2027.

The unemployment projections are above the lows of recent years and the latest reading of 4.1% in February.

Article Source – US Fed holds interest rates steady as expected, as Trump tariff fears buffet markets – RTE

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Property prices rose by 8.1% in the 12 months to January this year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

The cost of buying a home rose by 7.5% in Dublin and prices outside the capital were up by 8.6%.

The median price of a dwelling was €359,999 nationally in January, today’s figures show.

The highest was Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at €662,349, while the lowest was in Leitrim at €180,000.

Today’s figures mean that while the cost of buying a home continues to rise it is doing so as a slightly slower pace than before. In the 12 months to August last year prices were rising by 10.1%.

However, prices are now 16.9% above their highest level at the peak of the property boom in 2007.

The cost of buying a home is 160.7% up from its low point in early 2013.

The CSO said the most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to January was A94 “Blackrock” with a median price of €743,500, while H23 “Clones” had the least expensive price of €133,000.

“The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the Border (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, and Sligo) at 12.7%, while at the other end of the scale, the Mid-East (Kildare, Louth, Meath, and Wicklow) saw a 5.8% rise,” the CSO said.

Article Source – Residential property prices up 8.1% in 12 months to January – RTE

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The national commercial vacancy rate has reached its highest level on record at 14.5%, according to the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Buildings Report.

The report, prepared by EY, shows the rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 14.5% in the last quarter of 2024, which is the highest level recorded by GeoDirectory since it began tracking data in 2013.

There were 30,635 vacant commercial units across the country in December last year.

Sligo recorded the highest commercial vacancy rate at 20.6%, followed by Donegal at 20.1% and Galway at 18.8%.

Meath, Wexford and Kerry had the lowest rates at 9.9%, 10.8% and 12.3% respectively.

Dublin’s commercial vacancy rate stood at 13.6%, which is an increase of 0.5 percentage points on Q4 2023 and the highest level recorded in Dublin since Q4 2016.

Seven counties saw a decline in vacancy rates while 15 counties saw an increase.

Even though all four provinces experienced an increase in vacancy rates, four of the top six counties with the highest vacancy rates were in Connacht, which saw its vacancy rate reach 18.5%.

The report examined a sample of 80 towns throughout Ireland, as well as 22 districts in Dublin.

Ballybofey in Co Donegal was the town with the highest commercial vacancy rate at 36.4%, followed by Shannon in Co Clare at 30.8%.

Edgeworthstown in Co Longford, Boyle in Co Roscommon and Sligo town round out the top five at 28.3%, 27.7% and 26.8% respectively.

In contrast, the lowest commercial vacancy rates in the country were recorded in Greystones, Co Wicklow at 5.5% and Carrigaline, Co Cork at 5.1%.

Dublin 2 had the highest vacancy rate of all Dublin districts at 18.7%, which is 4.2 percentage points higher than the national vacancy rate.

Dublin 13 saw the largest increase in vacancy rate, growing by 2.2 percentage points when compared to Q4 2023.

The Dublin postcode with the lowest vacancy rate was Dublin 15, at 6.6%.

Four out of the 22 Dublin districts recorded a decrease in vacancy rates, with the largest falls in Dublin 24 and Dublin 6, both seeing a decrease of 0.3 percentage points. Of the 22 Dublin districts, 18 had vacancy rates below the national vacancy rate of 14.5%.

The Director at EY Economic Advisory, Annette Hughes, said that while residential vacancy continues to decline, commercial vacancy trends are going “in the opposite direction”.

“At 14.5%, the rate now sits 1% higher than before the Covid pandemic, representing an increase of over 2,100 commercial units and comes despite a strong economy, growing population and record employment,” she said.

“There are likely many factors at play here including, changes triggered by the pandemic, evolving shopping preferences and continued cost pressures on businesses and households.”

Article Source – Commercial vacancy rate reaches highest level at 14.5% – RTE

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The Central Bank has reduced its forecast for economic growth for this year due to rising uncertainty caused by the trade war between the US and EU.

It says the domestic economy will grow by 2.7% which is 0.5% lower than its last projection.

The bank also said fewer homes will be built over the next two years than it had forecast earlier, due to a fall in residential construction last year.

It now says there will be 35,000 houses and apartments built this year, rising to 40,000 next year and 44,000 in 2027.

Last year the bank said 70,000 homes need to be built annually over the next ten years to deal with housing shortfall and population growth.

In 2024 just over 30,000 houses and apartments were completed.

In its latest economic bulletin the Central Bank said: “Several factors are restraining housing supply including low productivity in the construction sector, delays in utility connection, delays in planning system and a shortage of zoned and serviced land in high-demand areas.”

The bank said the economy is continuing to perform well.

But it added: “Risks to the growth outlook remain firmly on the downside as the risk of more pronounced global tensions have risen.”

“As a small open economy with extensive trade and foreign direct investment linkages with the US, the Irish economy, public finances and labour market are highly exposed to changes in US economic policy and any broader deterioration in the global trading environment,” it said.

The bank said that potentially €15 billion of corporation tax receipts collected from multinationals were “at risk” due to tariffs threatened by the US.

It added that this could result in a “fiscal shock” which could impact the public finances and result in changes to taxation and spending by the Government.

While the bank trimmed its forecast for economic growth, it noted that the level of uncertainty was less than during the Covid-19 pandemic or Brexit.

The bank has also increased its forecast for inflation for this year by 0.5% to 2.2% due to higher energy prices and more persistent services inflation.

Article Source – Central Bank reduces forecast for economic growth due to rising uncertainty – RTE

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The National Treasury Management Agency will seek to raise €1 billion in nine and 12-year debt in its first bond auction of the year on Thursday, the National Treasury Management Agency said.

Ireland has a relatively limited borrowing requirement this year due to its large cash balances and forecast budget surplus.

It plans to issue €6 billion to €10 billion worth of debt and already raised €3 billion in a January syndicated deal.

Two bonds will be offered in Thursday auction – a 2.6% Treasury Bond which matures in 2034 and a 1.7% Treasury Bond which matures in 2037.

Article Source – NTMA to raise €1 billion in bond auction this week – RTE

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