Upwardly mobile for €495,000
Buyers fume over price of Brittas Bay ‘caravan’
IT’S essentially an upmarket mobile home – and many say its price is another sign of a dysfunctional housing market.
A seafront property in Wicklow, on the market for a jawdropping €495,000, has now drawn incredulous reactions over its price-tag.
Responding to the cost being sought for the holiday home in Jack’s Hole Beach Resort, Brittas Bay, Graham Love, a partner at Mazars Ireland, tweeted: ‘Mobile home €495k in Brittas Bay anyone? Anyone?? (Last time this happened the economy…)’
Reacting to this with his own message of incredulity, well-known economist David McWilliams tweeted simply: ‘Ah here!’
However, the estate agent told the Irish Daily Mail that residents have essentially set this high bar as one mobile home at Jack’s Hole Beach Resort sold around a year ago for €390,000, even though it was a much older model and needed refurbishment.
As to whether this property will fetch €495,000, the agent said that this valuation would be a ‘suck it and see’ situation.
While Anna Thornton of DNG Thornton Properties said that it would not be value for money for an ordinary mobile home, any future owners would have a share in the holiday home complex.
She added: ‘It is not a typical situation; you would be sharing the complex with only 72 residents, so where the price point comes from is about buying into the management. The residents own the complex so it is not just buying a home, it is getting a share in that. It is a different set-up.’
Ms Thornton also said the threebedroom mobile home was the perfect property for those seeking a coastal life.
Jack’s Hole Beach Resort has access to its own private beach and a number of onsite facilities such as tennis courts and a playground. The online advert reads: ‘Make your dream a reality with this stunning beach front holiday home. Jack’s Hole Beach Resort is without doubt the most exclusive holiday home resort in Brittas Bay, this gated community offers
Line in the sand: The boundary line is metres from the beach a location that is hard to rival with its own private beach and a host of onsite facilities.’
It continues: ‘The deck opens straight onto the beach, making it a truly special place where an abundance of memories will be made and treasured.’
A report by the property website Daft.ie previously showed that the price of coastal homes has soared by 23% since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Tom Gillespie, environmental economist at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and author of the Daft.ie report, previously explained what was driving the trend, saying: ‘There is a renewed interest in the sea and sea swimming and surfing. We have had two staycation summers; increased savings and remote working has changed the trade-off between having to live close to jobs and having to live close to nature.
‘So, you see a lot of people that are relocating from cities to coastal areas.’
‘Deck opens straight onto the beach’