Does the Property Price Register include VAT?

Not on most new builds. The register records the consideration on which Stamp Duty was assessed, and on a new home that is normally the price before Value Added Tax. Second hand sales carry no VAT at all, so their figures are the full price. The two are not comparable without adding the tax back.

How do I work out the real price of a new build from the register?

Multiply the recorded figure by 1.135. A price shown as €352,423 was a house that changed hands for €400,000. Adding 13.5 per cent to the recorded figure gets you to a different and wrong answer, because the tax is a share of the higher number rather than the lower one.

Why is a new estate cheaper than the second hand houses beside it?

Often it is not, and the gap is the tax. A filed new build price has the VAT stripped out while the resale beside it does not, so the estate looks around twelve per cent cheaper than it was before anybody negotiated anything.

What does “not full market price” mean on a sale?

That the sale was not at arm's length. A transfer between family members, a sale as part of a portfolio, or a disposal under some other arrangement is filed at what actually changed hands, which is not evidence of what the property is worth. Every median on this site leaves those out.

Why the price on the register is not what the buyer paid

About 10.4% of sales in our town-level comparison sample are filed without the VAT the buyer paid on top. A €400,000 new build appears as €352,423. How to spot one and what to add back.

The Property Price Register records the consideration on which Stamp Duty was assessed. On a new build that figure is normally the price without Value Added Tax, because the tax is accounted for separately. The buyer paid the tax. The register does not show it. So the number you are looking at is smaller than the cheque, and by a predictable amount.

What to add back

New residential property is charged VAT at 13.5 per cent. A price recorded as €352,423 is a house that changed hands for €400,000. The arithmetic is to multiply by 1.135, not to add 13.5 per cent of the higher figure, which is the mistake that gets made in the other direction.

The same house, two ways

What the buyer paid: €400,000
What appears on the register: €352,423
The difference: €47,577, the VAT

This is why a new estate can look cheaper than the second hand houses beside it when it is not. Comparing a filed new build price against a filed resale price is comparing a figure with tax stripped out against one with nothing stripped out.

Why it matters beyond curiosity

A median for an area with a lot of new build in it is dragged down, and the drag is bigger in the years the estate was selling.
A price per square metre worked out from a filed new build price is understated by the same 13.5 per cent.
A resale gain measured from a VAT exclusive first sale to a VAT inclusive second sale is overstated, which is why this site drops those pairs rather than adjusting them.

The other reason a price can be misleading

Some sales are filed as not being at full market price. A house sold between family members, or as part of a larger portfolio, goes on the register at what was actually paid, and what was actually paid was not what a stranger would have offered. Those are flagged too, and they are left out of every median on this site rather than quietly included.

Questions people ask

Does the Property Price Register include VAT?: Not on most new builds. The register records the consideration on which Stamp Duty was assessed, and on a new home that is normally the price before Value Added Tax. Second hand sales carry no VAT at all, so their figures are the full price. The two are not comparable without adding the tax back.
How do I work out the real price of a new build from the register?: Multiply the recorded figure by 1.135. A price shown as €352,423 was a house that changed hands for €400,000. Adding 13.5 per cent to the recorded figure gets you to a different and wrong answer, because the tax is a share of the higher number rather than the lower one.
Why is a new estate cheaper than the second hand houses beside it?: Often it is not, and the gap is the tax. A filed new build price has the VAT stripped out while the resale beside it does not, so the estate looks around twelve per cent cheaper than it was before anybody negotiated anything.
What does “not full market price” mean on a sale?: That the sale was not at arm's length. A transfer between family members, a sale as part of a portfolio, or a disposal under some other arrangement is filed at what actually changed hands, which is not evidence of what the property is worth. Every median on this site leaves those out.

Figures checked 8 August 2026.