Cost of living crisis hits holiday plans for prospective homebuyers, survey finds

Almost half of prospective homebuyers are changing their holiday plans this year because of the cost of living crisis, a new survey has found.

The research, which was carried out for property website MyHome.ie, found a third of people who were planning on taking one main holiday this year were aiming to stay in Ireland, with Kerry, Galway and Donegal on the list of top destinations. Almost half said they would rent a holiday home rather than opt for a hotel.

But almost two-thirds of people said they thought a trip overseas was better value than staying in Ireland, with 77 per cent of respondents saying hotel prices were more expensive this year than previously, and 72 per cent holding the same opinion on holiday homes.

Thirty-nine per cent of people said finances had caused them to change their holiday accommodation plans.

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“The cost of living crisis has had a significant impact on people for the past year, and now we are seeing that effect on the holiday market. It is clear that many people feel priced out of the Irish holiday market this year, and many of them have had to adapt and be flexible in order to get a much-needed break,” said Joanne Geary, managing director of MyHome.ie, which is owned by The Irish Times media group.

“Almost half of respondents [46 per cent] in this survey told us that they would rather rent a holiday home in Ireland than stay in a hotel. This corresponds with what we see on MyHome.ie, with an overall 36 per cent rise in the number of enquiries for holiday homes listings both at home and abroad in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2022.”

Consumers have been hit by rising prices for groceries, services and utilities in recent months, with the European Central Bank raising base interest rates by a combined 3.75 percentage points in the past year to try to tame price growth. However, there could be relief in sight as new figures showed inflation in the euro zone eased more than expected last month and underlying price growth also slowed. Inflation in the 20 nations sharing the euro eased to 6.1 per cent in May from 7.0 per cent in April.