‘Phenomenal demand’ for Sligo property, according to newspaper’s new guide
A NEW guide to property prices nationally has described as “phenomenal” the demand for property in Sligo.
The guide says that strong demand from remote workers looking for space to raise their families has fueled a 6% increase in Sligo’s property prices on average in the past year, with a further increase of an average of 4% predicted for this year.
The Irish Independent guide also says that there are higher increases within that average, with the price of a detached 2,000 square feet house “leaping by 12%”, to an average price of €475,000 today compared with €425,000 a year ago.
And it says that buyers are willing to pay a premium for particular locations, such as Strandhill, where the same house will set you back €600,000, and Rosses Point, where it will cost €700,000.
But it says the “old reliable”, the three-bed semi in town, is still in greatest demand among first-time buyers, with the average price having increased from €170,000 to €175,000.
Local estate agent Shane Flanagan of DNG Flanagan Ford is quoted in the guide.
He says: “Demand across the board is phenomenal. As well as first-time buyers, trader-uppers and people relocating from Dublin, New York and London, people are also spending money upgrading their existing homes.”
Mr Flanagan also reports strong interest in people buying apartments to rent, with “a new generation of pension-backed investors looking to build a nest egg for their future”.
“They can use their pension funds to acquire property, switching from a managed fund to a self-administered fund, and borrow up to 50% of the value.
“The rental income they get from the investment goes back into their pension fund, which is tax-free while it grows. He continued: “Considering these investors are typically in their late 30s or 40s, they have 20-25 years of rental income to build up.”
He said it is a popular trend that has sent apartment prices soaring over the past year, with one-bed types increasing by 21%, from €70,000 to €85,000, and two-beds up 17% from €85,000 to €100,000. Mr Flanagan also mentions that at an average price of €150,000, three-bed terraced houses and two-bed cottages are affordable options to some people on a single salary. He says buyers are also eager for new homes, as demonstrated by the demand for the Farmhill Manor development on the Strandhill Road, where he says all but three of the 31 first-phase houses have already sold and he expects next month’s second phase to sell just as quickly.
Prices in the three and four bedroom homes in that development start at €289,000.
But, according to the guide, the average price of a home in Sligo is one of the lowest in the country.
It gives the average price for Sligo as €175,000. Only Cavan (€155,000) and Longford (€160,000) are lower, with Offaly and Laois having the same average price as Sligo.