This release is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.
The median price per acre of Residentially Zoned Land was €231,171 in 2024, down 6% compared with 2023. Overall, prices increased over the last 7 years with the 2024 price per acre 42% higher than 2018. In comparison, the median price per acre of agricultural land in 2024 was €9,988.
The total value of Residentially Zoned Land sold in 2024 amounted to €186.8 million, up 84% on the €101.5 million recorded in 2023 (See Editor's Note).
Individuals were the vendors for 71% of the volume and 40% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions.
In 2024, Dublin and the South-West (Cork and Kerry) were the most expensive regions to buy Residentially Zoned Land, with median prices per acre of €642,613 and €362,789, respectively.
The highest volume of Residentially Zoned Land, 178.8 acres, was sold in the Mid-West (Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary) in 2024 (See Editor's Note).
The purchasers were construction companies for 32% of the volume and 64% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions.
In 2024, Residentially Zoned Land that was subject to the Residentially Zoned Land Tax was 127% more expensive than Residentially Zoned Land not subject to the tax, with median prices per acre of €325k and €143k respectively.
This Frontier publication has been designed to fill a significant knowledge gap in relation to the price of Residentially Zoned Land. In order to provide insight into the trends of Residentially Zoned Land prices per acre over time, we have provided data from 2018 through to 2024. However, due to issues with data sources in earlier years in particular, the value and volume of transactions in this release do not include all Residentially Zoned Land sales. Only transactions where the land area could be verified at the time of sale are included. Verification rates are higher in recent years compared with earlier ones. As a result, comparisons across years, such as the number of transactions, total land area sold, and overall value, are not reliable since differences are largely driven by the ability to verify land area.
The Dept. of Housing, Local Government and Heritage’s website MyPlan.ie does not include up-to-date zoning plans for all 31 local authorities. Where updated plans were unavailable, the most recent plans were used instead, even if they had expired. This may have led to the exclusion of some transactions involving Residentially Zoned Land if zoning designations had changed between plan versions.
At the time of analysis:
These gaps in zoning data may affect the completeness and accuracy of the analysis.
For the analysis of Residentially Zoned Land Prices to be completed and published for 2025 and beyond, the CSO will need to continue to receive quarterly updates of registration data from the Property Registration Authority of Ireland (PRAI) and regular updates of zoning information through the MyPlan.ie system. This should allow a higher ratio of all transactions to be verified and included in the analysis from 2025 onwards and should allow the CSO to move away from having to publish the data under the Frontier Series.
In 2024, 766.8 acres of Residentially Zoned Land were sold in Ireland at the median price of €231,171 per acre. The mean transaction size was 2.2 acres with a mean transaction value of €243,627.
The total value of Residentially Zoned Land sold in 2024 amounted to €186.8 million, an increase of 84% on the €101.5 million recorded in 2023 (See Figure 1.1 and Table 1.1).
In 2024, the vendor was an individual for 70.7% of the volume and 40.2% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions, while construction companies were the vendor for 11.0% of the volume and 30.8% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions (See Table 1.2).
In 2024, the purchaser was an individual for 46.5% of the volume and 11.3% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions, while construction companies were the purchaser for 32.4% of the volume and 63.5% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions.
Councils were the purchaser for 5.6% of the volume and 4.4% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions in 2024 (See Table 1.3).
This section splits out the Residentially Zoned Land sold in 2024 into whether it was subject to the Residentially Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) or not.
RZLT is a 3% annual tax on the market value of land that is zoned for residential use, serviced (i.e., has access to infrastructure like roads and water), but remains undeveloped.
Residentially Zoned Land that was subject to the RZLT was 127% more expensive than Residentially Zoned Land not subject to the RZLT, with median price per acre of €325k and €143k, respectively. In most regions (all regions except the South-West region and the Mid-East region), the median price per acre was higher for land that was subject to the RZLT (See Figure 1.2).
Residentially Zoned Land that was subject to the RZLT accounted for €128.8m (69%) of 2024 Residentially Zoned Land sales (See Figure 1.3 and Table 1.4).
The median price is calculated by ordering the transactions in order of the price per acre and taking the mid-point, so that half of the transactions are made at a price above the median and half at a price below it. The mean price is calculated as a ratio of the total value to the total volume of land sold.
Neither mean, nor median price is suitable for measuring evolution between time periods, as the mix of the Residentially Zoned Land sold in different periods can change over time.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 November 2025) published Residentially Zoned Land Prices 2024.
Commenting on the release, Kieran Healy, Statistician in the Prices Division, said: “In 2024, 766.8 acres of Residentially Zoned Land were sold nationally (See Editor’s Note). The median price per acre was €231,171 in 2024, down 6% compared with 2023. However, the overall median price per acre has increased over the last 7 years with the 2024 figure 42% higher than 2018.
Purchasers in Dublin and the South-West (Cork and Kerry) regions paid the highest median price per acre of €642,613 and €362,789, respectively. The land was least expensive in the Mid-West (Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary) region where the median price was €98,062 per acre.
In 2024, the volume of sales was highest in the Mid-West (Clare, Limerick, and Tipperary) region, where 178.8 acres of Residentially Zoned Land changed hands. This compares with 61.8 acres sold in the Dublin region and with 25.3 acres in the Midlands (Laois, Longford, Westmeath, and Offaly,) region (See Editor's Note).
The vendor was an individual for 70.7% of the volume and 40.2% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions in 2024, while construction companies were the vendor for 11.0% of the volume and 30.8% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions. In 2024, the purchaser was an individual for 46.5% of the volume and 11.3% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions, while construction companies were the purchaser for 32.4% of the volume and 63.5% of the value of Residentially Zoned Land transactions.
In 2024, Residentially Zoned Land that was subject to the Residentially Zoned Land Tax was 127% more expensive than Residentially Zoned Land not subject to the tax in 2024, with median prices per acres of €325k and €143k respectively.”