Property values triple our wealth in a decade
Personal wealth in Ireland has almost tripled over the past decade – and is expected to double over the next ten years, a finance report shows.
Soaring property values are driving our spiralling personal riches, which topped €1.32trillion – (€1.32 thousand billion) – last year and are expected to hit €2.6trillion by 2035, according to stockbroker Davy’s Wealth In Ireland report.
Yet even that colossal figure may be an underestimate, as the report says: “Irish households” net wealth has risen from €573bn in 2014 to €1.32trillion in 2024 and is forecast to reach around €2.6trillion by 2035, with significant upside potential.”
Housing was the major contributor to the boom in wealth, driven by property prices currently rising at almost 8% a year.
Non-housing wealth is also growing strongly but at a rate lower than the domestic economy.
Home ownership “underpins Irish wealth dispersion, with the pay-down of post-crisis mortgages by less well- off households masking falls in their ownership of stock”.
Davy stockbrokers chief Gavin Kelly said: “The story of Irish wealth in the past decade is one of resilience and a strong testament to the resourcefulness of our society in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
“Net wealth has more than doubled and Ireland now sits among the wealthier countries in the euro area, with much healthier balance sheets than a decade ago.”
Yet many people feel financially insecure.
He said: “When we look a little deeper and consider the nature of that wealth, it becomes clearer why so many households feel financially insecure despite Ireland’s very strong headline wealth statistics.
“A large share of what counts as wealth today is tied up in housing or reflects valuation rather than accumulation.
“Once we adjust for the family home and ensuring sufficient cash buffers and pension provision, many households have far less investible wealth than the headline figures suggest.
“Participation in pensions, financial markets and business ownership is still too uneven.”
While Irish households are saving in line with the eurozone, people are not investing where they would earn the best financial return because they are not looking for the best rates.
There are 75,000 ‘wealthy households’ out of 1.9 million in Ireland, which it defines as worth at least €1m once their home and pension is excluded.
Davy’s chief economist Kevin Timoney said: “Wealth in Ireland shows a decade of remarkable progress in Irish household wealth, supported by rising property values, reduced leverage and higher savings.
“On a net basis, households are in a much stronger position to absorb short-term shocks than they were after the financial crisis, and wealth is somewhat less concentrated at the very top than it was ten years ago.
“Housing has done a lot of the heavy lifting, and while that helped lower-wealth households through debt pay-down and equity gains, it leaves Ireland more exposed to a single asset class and doesn’t automatically translate into retirement income or liquid buffers.
Housing was the major contributor to the boom in wealth, driven by property prices currently rising at almost 8% a year.
“Financial assets have grown quickly but remain concentrated in a relatively small group, and our analysis of pensions points to a sizeable funding gap...
“Our evidence points to opportunities to expand participation in long-term savings, improve management of deposits and deepen engagement with investment and business ownership.
“If more households move from saving to structured wealth-building, the next decade can deliver... more resilient financial outcomes...”
