Brexit looming on strong local property market
NEW ROSS property prices are climbing, but Brexit is having an impact on the market locally, according to Anne Carton of P N O’Gorman Auctioneers.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland’s forecast for 2018 is that national property prices will rise by an average of 8 per cent this year, a 2 per cent drop on 2017’s forecast. This is in line with recent reports issued by Daft and Myhome and represents more sustainable growth and reflects a tail off in asking prices for the last quarter of 2017, Anne said. ‘ The demand for property is being fuelled by strong economic growth, greater job security and most obviously competition for the limited supply of properties on the market.’
The vast majority of buyers (69 per cent) were locally based or had strong family connections to the areas in which they bought, almost mirroring her findings from 2016. ‘ Town properties saw the largest gains with well-presented 3 bed homes increasing by a very healthy 10 per cent to the region of €140,000 to €150,000 which is just below the average asking price for the County Wexford.’
Older properties in town saw gains of between 5 per cent and 8 per cent. Anne attributes this trend to demand from those downsizing and investors looking for manageable 2 to 3 beds under €65,000.
Outside town, the sale of rural properties held steady but has been hit significantly by the absence of UK buyers. ‘Only 2 per cent of our buyers last year were UK based and based on the number of enquires and leads from the UK this trend will more than likely continue until there is greater clarity on Brexit.’
Commercial and agricultural land sales reflected the upward trajectory of the housing market with strong demand from investors for commercial properties and good agricultural land selling at €10,000 to 12,000 per acre. She said the outlook for 2018 is positive and capital from the Government’s new County Council mortgage initiative should greatly benefit the residential market in town in New Ross.