Signs Of Property Market Pick-Up
Updated : Apr 6, 2009
More than 50 apartments on offer at 1999 prices were sold in a single development in Dublin last week.
The "stock clearance" sale at the Waterways complex in Ashtown has given the property market a boost, with indications of increased activity in March.
"There's definitely a pick-up, there is no doubt about that. Last week was the busiest week we had in the last year. We sold more than 50 apartments at the Waterways in the last week, which is all very positive. It's been a long time since we had that volume of sales over a five-day period," said Ronan O'Driscoll, director of new homes at Savillis.
He believes the major factor was that the prices were very keen and the quality of the apartments high.
"That's why they sold. We had one-bedroom apartments from €159,000. You would have to go back a long way to see apartments at that price -- perhaps 1999 or 2000," Mr O'Driscoll said.
However, he did stress that the pick-up in the market was being driven by lower prices and a big factor was the realisation among those who are currently renting for €900 a month that they can now own their own apartment for less than €500 a month.
On Thursday, Rooske House in Edenderrry, which sits on 130 acres, was sold for €1.26m -- €100,000 over the guide price. The same auctioneer, Robert Ganly, is also in discussions with a number of parties for a period home Rahanna and 90 acres near Ardee, Co Louth, which also went for auction on Thursday. "There's an increase in activity, no doubt about it," he said.
In Britain, house prices rose in March for the first time since October 2007, according to the Nationwide Building Society. The building society said that property prices increased by 0.9 per cent compared with the previous month.
Ian McCarthy, of Sherry Fitzgerald, said "For a long time, people were getting letters in the door saying 'the interest rate on your mortgage is going up'. Now the letters are saying 'your interest rates are going down'. That is certainly taking effect. We have noticed that some people working in Dublin who moved well outside the capital, because it was what they could afford at the time, are now seeing that they can now afford to move closer to their work and cut their commuting time."
VeryHappyPig says any improvement in the property market, no matter how small, is a good thing!
