The average home in Ireland is sold just once every 50 years, according to property website MyHome.ie.The group’s latest report, compiled in conjunction with Bank of Ireland, indicated that annual asking price inflation for properties nationally rose to 5 per cent in the second quarter, despite the ongoing affordability challenge.The report noted that market liquidity among the existing stock of homes fell to its weakest rate in more than a decade in 2025 with just under 44,000 existing homes being bought and sold.This equated to just 2 per cent of the 2.2 million homes in the State.“This implies the average home is sold just once every 50 years,” the report’s author and Bank of Ireland chief economist Conall Mac Coille said.“The underlying message here is that existing homeowners clearly feel unwilling to consider moving home – for fear of failing to secure another,” he said.“The elevated cost of retrofitting an existing home may also be another impediment,” Mac Coille said.While residential transactions in the first four months of 2026 were up 2.9 per cent on the year, this was entirely driven by new homebuilding with existing home transactions down by 2.7 per cent.However, the report noted what Mac Coille described as a “wild card” trend with notices for termination of rental tenancies up 50 per cent to more than 7,000 in the first quarter.“Given the pickup in terminations since mid-2025, and that 60 per cent of landlords intended to sell, this could in time add 5 per cent to market liquidity,” he said.[ Property prices fall in Dublin but are still ‘running hot’ in rural areasOpens in new window ]Termination notices spiked in the first quarter as new rental rules, allowing for increased tenant protections and six-year continuous tenancy cycles, came into force.Critics of the new rules say they will squeeze the availability of rental accommodation.MyHome, which is owned by The Irish Times, said annual asking price inflation nationally rose to 5 per cent in the second quarter, bucking the downward trend of recent quarters. The figure was 4.5 per cent in Dublin and 5.4 per cent outside the capital. The uptick in inflation came despite “stretched affordability and softer conditions at higher price points”, the platform said.Despite the financial pressure on buyers, home transactions were being settled 7-8 per cent above the original asking price in May and June, “signalling continued strong competition amongst homebuyers returning,” it said. In Dublin, the median premium was 9-10 per cent above the asking price.Based on its own data, MyHome said the median, or middle value, price of a home nationally was €395,000 while those in Dublin were €495,000.“The key question is whether buyers will actually be able to meet these raised asking prices?” Mac Coille said.Recent Central Bank mortgage data suggests stretched affordability is now starting to be felt. In April, the average mortgage approval for house purchase was €345,700, up 2.7 per cent. Last year the rate of increase was more than 7 per cent.Central Bank figures showed that in 2025 the average first-time buyer with a mortgage had an income of €95,000, up 3.5 per cent on the previous year. The official Central Statistics Office residential property price index for April showed transaction prices have had the softest start to the year since 2020 amid the current energy price shock and further geopolitical uncertainty.MyHome said the number of properties listed for sale on its website in June was 14,200, up from 12,600 a year ago. It said there have been 18,900 new listings for sale on MyHome so far in 2026, up 1.3 per cent on the same period of 2025.