Good supply keeps prices honest
WICKLOW NORTH AVERAGE PRICE: €450,000
Areas: Bray, Greystones, Enniskerry, Delgany, Kilcoole, Kilmacanogue
Change: 1%
One Year Forecast: 1%
Assessing Agent: Sherry FitzGerald
THE MARKET
Demand may be high, but two key factors will kick in this year to keep price rises bare in North Wicklow, namely a levelling off of apartment values and the availability of plentiful land to build new homes.
Prices are barely scraping in a 1pc average hike overall but many types are not adding value at all. And notwithstanding a shortage of housing stock and the arrival of the first sub-2pc mortgage repayment rate, local agent Gordon Lennox is predicting a 1pc increase average again for 2021.
“Having taken over from MBNA, the Spanish lender Avant has shaken up the mortgage market with a loan offer of 1.9pc,” he says. “This has made things very competitive, with other lenders following suit by lowering their rates. The dynamics have changed, with 10 lenders where previously there were only six. That’s very healthy for the market.” A 7pc drop in two-bed apartment prices over the past year is impacting on the overall picture for values. Lennox says this is largely due to the fact that, at over €500,000 each, new apartments in Greystones Marina have skewed the overall average somewhat, whilst across the region, two-bed apartments have fallen off to a more modest €280,000.
A key factor holding back apartment value increases to 2pc in the coming year are the numbers of investors now exiting the rental market. Some are so keen to sell their second hand apartments that they are prepared to cut their prices by as much as €20,000.
A welcome flow of new homes that began filtering through last year is set to continue through 2021, with several new developments under construction, including 400-500 houses at Archers Wood in Greystones and 47 three and four-bedroom properties at Sika Woods in Enniskerry.
Meantime, Drumakilla has submitted a fast-track application for 232 new homes at the former convent site in Delgany.
“On top of that, lands zoned around North Wicklow have the capacity for another 1,000 houses, which will keep prices honest,” says Lennox. The average three bed semi in North Wicklow towns has moved up marginally from €445,000 a year ago to €450,000.
“Much has been made about more people coming to market to sell property post-vaccine,” says Lennox. “There will be greater choice for buyers, but at the same time we’re still 10,000 new homes behind what the market needs and this continues to push up
second-hand prices.”
He predicts three-bed terraces will do well this year as they are sought by those anxious to get a more affordable first step on the ladder and buy instead of rent.
Four-bed semis will also be increasingly popular among those working from home, as will any size house with a back garden big enough to meet the needs of an increasingly flexible labour market by accommodating a home office.