Ireland · Housing

The shortage
is the story.

Median home: €390,461. New-tenancy rent: €1,755 a month nationally, far more in Dublin. Ireland built a post-2011 record 36,284 homes in 2025 and it still wasn't enough. Plan around that fact, not around it going away.

Figures verified 8 July 2026 · €1 = $1.14

The market in five numbers

Measure	Figure	Source · period
Median home price, national	€390,461 ($445k)	CSO RPPI · 12 months to Mar 2026
Median home price, Dublin	€500,000 ($570k)	CSO RPPI · 12 months to Mar 2026
Annual price growth	+6.5%	CSO RPPI · year to Mar 2026
Average rent, new tenancies (national)	€1,755/mo ($2,000)	RTB Rent Index · Q4 2025
Homes completed 2025	36,284 (+20.4%)	CSO New Dwelling Completions

Anyone can buy — buying grants nothing. Ireland places no nationality restrictions on property purchase, and no purchase confers a right to reside. Residency runs through immigration routes; property is just property.

Renting changed on 1 March 2026. Rent Pressure Zones are gone; a national cap now limits increases to 2% a year or CPI, whichever is lower, and new tenancies carry 6-year minimum-duration protections. Good for tenants — but it also keeps supply tight, because sitting tenants stay put. The reality check covers what this means for a new arrival.

In this section

Guides

★ Start here

The housing reality check

Real CSO and RTB numbers, the two-tier rental market, the March 2026 reform, and how to plan a move around a shortage.

Read the guide →

Coming soon

Buying in Ireland from abroad

Conveyancing, stamp duty and the other purchase costs, and why "cash buyer from America" cuts both ways.

Coming soon

Winning a rental as a new arrival

What Irish landlords want to see, deposits and the RTB, and realistic search timelines city by city.

Sources

Prices: CSO, Residential Property Price Index, March 2026 release (13 May 2026)
Rents: RTB Rent Index Q4 2025 (published May 2026)
Rental reform: RTB and Department of Housing, rental law changes from 1 March 2026
Supply: CSO, New Dwelling Completions Q4 2025 (January 2026)
Exchange rate: €1 = $1.14, 1 July 2026

The shortageis the story.