3.7% increase in average price of home - report
The average home list price nationally rose by 3.7% during the last year, according to the latest sales report from Daft.ie.
The property listings website said the figure represents the slowest rate of increase since late 2023.
It compares to an average increase of 5.5% in the year to the end of the previous quarter, up to December.
Daft.ie said the average price nationally of a three-bed semi-detached home in the first quarter of this year was €435,000.
Listed prices are now, on average, 42% above their pre-Covid levels and just 9% below their Celtic Tiger peak.
The report said a similar pattern is evident in transaction prices.
"Analysis of transactions registered in the Property Price Register and matched to the Daft.ie database suggests that prices rose by 5.6% in the year to March, again the slowest rate of increase since 2023."
It compares to a rate of 7.4% in the year to December.
The findings showed transaction prices were broadly stable between December and March.
The typical gap between the initial listed price and the ultimate transaction price was 5.8% nationally in early 2026.
The reports said the latest figures "point to an increasingly uneven housing market, with signs of stabilisation emerging first in urban areas".
In Dublin, list price inflation slowed to 2.5% in the year to March, while transaction prices fell slightly in the first quarter.
A similar pattern is evident in the other major cities, where list prices rose by just 0.7% year-on-year.
But inflation remains higher outside the main cities, from 5% in Leinster to 8% in Connacht-Ulster, "reflecting more acute supply constraints".
On 1 March, there were just over 10,100 second-hand homes for sale nationwide.
While the figure is up 6% on a year ago, it is still less than half the pre-pandemic level of over 26,000.
The report said the "modest improvement" is concentrated in urban markets.
"In Dublin, availability has increased significantly and is now much closer to pre-Covid levels, while in much of the country supply remains severely constrained."
The author of the report, Professor Ronan Lyons, said across both list and transaction prices, "there are clear signs that the housing market is cooling slightly, with inflation now at its lowest rate in over two years".
However Prof Lyons, a professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said it is "not a uniform shift".
"Instead, we are seeing a two-speed market emerge, with conditions stabilising first in and near urban areas where supply is improving," he said.
Prof Lyons said in Dublin in particular, "increased availability, driven in part by greater activity in the second-hand market, is easing the intensity of competition between buyers".
"However, in much of the country, supply remains far below normal levels, and this continues to drive stronger price increases."
According to the report's author, the improving availability is easing price pressures, but he said Ireland's housing market "remains fundamentally undersupplied".
"Taking into account the housing deficit, as well as new requirements, the number of new homes built per year needs to approximately double, across owner-occupied, rental and social housing, to bring long-term balance."
The report shows that while the average price nationally of a three-bed semi-detached home in Q1 was €435,000, the average list price in Dublin was €626,000 and €399,000 in other cities.
In the Leinster region, excluding Dublin, the figure is €372,000, with an average of €311,000 in Munster when cities are excluded, while for Connacht-Ulster, excluding Galway city, the average listed price is €252,000.
