The price of the average second-hand three-bed semi in County Wicklow has risen by 3.5% to €354,000 in the last three months, according to a national survey by Real Estate Alliance.

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

Prices in Bray rose by 5.1% to €415,000 this quarter, while Wicklow town saw a 5.4% increase to €390,000 over the past three months.

“Wicklow Town has seen a significant increase in achieved prices in the last three months, and this is mainly due to the lack of supply of housing in the second-hand market,” said Matt Forkin of REA Forkin, Wicklow.

“Although more new homes are being released to the market than there were in Q1 2021, the new homes supply is nowhere close to meeting the level of demand from the market.

“Bray has seen a steady increase in achieved prices over the last three months, and for the most part this is due to lack of supply of suitable family homes in the market.

“Few new homes are planned for the town so the vast majority of housing supply has to come from the second hand market.”

Prices in Blessington saw a 1.4% increase this quarter to €335,000, while Baltinglass prices rose 2.1% to €240,000.

“Supply of property remains a problem for intended purchasers in preferred areas and those buyers are beginning to accept more outlying areas like Baltinglass because of such shortage in higher demand areas,” said Simon Murphy of REA Murphy Baltinglass and Blessington.

The REA Average House Price Survey concentrates on the actual 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.

Nationally, house prices are increasing at an average of almost €100 a day as the market shows no signs of slowing up in the early months of 2022, the survey has found.

Average house prices rose by 3.16% nationally in the first three months of year, matching the 1% a month increases experienced during the Celtic Tiger days.

And illustrating the two-tier nature of the market, 59% of all purchasers were first-time buyers, that figure rising to 76% in Dublin as people with mortgage approval scramble to get on the housing ladder.

The price of a three-bedroomed semi-detached house across the country rose by almost €9,000 over the past three months to €278,500 – representing an annual increase of over 14%.

The average three bed in Dublin is fast approaching the €500,000 mark, with actual selling prices rising by 2.2% since the new year, to an average of €481,250.

Commuter counties saw prices increase 4.47% – a jump of €13,000 to €305,000 – and double the rate of increase seen in the capital.

In the rest of the country, where prices rose 3.4% to €196,569, the survey found that one in every three buyers were from outside the county as new working conditions enable a rethink on home bases.