Hectic bidding pushes Cork land to €30,000/ac
A 16AC farm with an old bungalow and a series of dated farm buildings on the Old head of Kinsale made €680,000 at a private auction last week.
Auctioneer John Hodnett values the house at €200,000 and the land at €480,000 giving a per acre price of €30,000/ac.
The property is located at Ballymackean five minutes from the Old Head Golf Course and 10 minutes from Kinsale Town.
It includes a single storey detached bungalow that is structurally sound but needs total refurbishing and renovation. The accommodation includes three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a sitting room, a bathroom and a hallway.
The yard is made up of a series of dated outbuildings that could be converted for other uses.
In a most spectacular setting looking out over the Atlantic Ocean the land is comprised of top quality ground that yielded a fine crop of silage in the summer and is now in grazing. On the western boundary the farm fronts on to a road leading to the golf course.
The property was on the private treaty market for a number of months and commanded a €430,000 price tag when the vendor and auctioneer decide to put the place to private auction involving the four highest bidders.
The bidding opened at €430,000 and was decidedly brisk until it went on the market at €550,000. Undaunted the customers kept at it until the final bid of €680,000 sealed the deal. Cork auctioneer Michael McKenna bought the place in trust for a client.
The other bidders included an Irish buyer based in Dublin and two Irish bidders based abroad.
John Hodnett described this as one of the most popular properties he ever brought to the market.
“It’s an exceptional landmark holding enjoying what is arguably one of West Cork’s finest coastal locations. There were in excess of 25 viewings that included locals, people from all over the country and international customers from the US and the Middle East,” he said. IT has been a good year for bigger country houses and farms, says Roseanne Hunt of Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes. In an end of year review she notes an increase in all buyer sections including international buyers, ex-pats returning home and the Irish buyer.
“Sixty five per cent of our buyers this year were Irish, 22pc from the US, 9pc from the UK and 4pc Chinese buyers,” she said. “The US buyer has replaced the UK buyer this year, with many looking for a European base.”
On the farmland front the Sherry FitzGerald executive believes the outlook is good. “Farmers seem to be witnessing a good year with growth in milk prices, this may well continue into next year,” said Ms Hunt.
Among the headline sales enjoyed by Sherry FitzGerald was the sale of Milltown Park, an 18th century home on 285ac of tillage and grazing land in Shinrone, Co Offaly.
After a few years on the market it sold to an Irish businessman for a figure believed to be in the region of €2.85m. Milltown Park was built by the Spunner family in 1720 and was still in their ownership up to the sale last February 2017.