PLUS your Sunday Property section
Goodbye commuter homes, hello rural living. As lockdown lifts, househunters are looking to the country for a slice of the good life, writes Katy McGuinness
IF the experience of living in lockdown in the city has you yearning for country life, it seems that you are not alone. The diaspora is on its way home — and it’s rural homes they are after — as are more and more city dwellers. “We have seen an incredible amount of interest in country property from ex-pat buyers, mainly based in London, New York and Singapore,” says Roseanne De Vere Hunt of Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes. “Over the last two weeks we have seen a 26pc increase in web traffic from the UK and 12pc from the US. The top countries are the UK, US and Canada.
“I have asked these callers: why now? Their reasoning is that prior to Covid, they didn’t have the time to look at how they live their lives and now they do. One couple in Manhattan, originally Irish, living in an apartment with three children have decided that they need green space, low density living and to be able to breathe clean air again. These buyers are looking for a good work/ life balance, and lifestyle will be their priority. I recently sold Kilmahon House, Shanagarry, Co Cork to a couple moving from Germany, away from the corporate life, looking for a lifestyle change.”
De Vere Hunt says that the great social experiment of remote working forced on many by Covid-19 has been proven to work and looks to be the future.
“With commuting in rush hour gone, the countryside has never looked so appealing,” she says, citing the example of Oldcourt House in Donadea, currently on the market for €1.75m, which was viewed online 236 times on one recent weekend, and for which she has 10 viewings arranged for when restrictions lift after tomorrow..
In West Cork, Sean Carmody of Charles McCarthy Auctioneers in Skibbereen says that while the level of enquiries in relation to West Cork properties on his books is not substantially up on previous years, he is having what he calls ‘‘stronger’’ conversations with prospective purchasers.
“My sense is that a lot of the interest is from younger couples based in Dublin or the UK who are looking to leave big cities. This has made people sit up and say: ‘now is the time to make a call and improve our quality of life.’ Once things calm down and we are able to show properties, I think we will see a further upsurge in interest.”
“Natural capital is space, but also what space offers in terms of fresh air and the proximity to trees, water and views,” explains James Butler, Head of Country Property at Savills in Ireland, who says that while it’s too early for hard statistics — viewings (other than virtual ones) have been on hold during lockdown and agents unable to visit properties to value them for prospective vendors — he sees natural capital becoming more important as one of the factors influencing the housing market in Ireland.
Butler points to a national survey by NUIG of more than 7,000 remote working employees across a range of sectors, for the week of April 27 to May 5, 2020. It showed that although 51pc had never worked remotely before Covid-19, 78pc of this cohort would like to continue to do so when the crisis is over. Those most keen were in the 31- 40 age group.
Meanwhile, a Global Sentiment Survey carried out by Savills reveals that green space in its various forms is a growing priority for buyers, and that demand in rural areas is expected to rise.
“Value for money is one obvious appeal of country property,” confirms Butler, who expects that when restrictions on viewings are lifted, there will be an upsurge in requests to view country properties.
“I have seen something of a change in the past month or six weeks... people maybe weren’t focussed at the beginning of lockdown as they were busy making practical adjustments to their lives, but now they are starting to talk about what their requirements into the future will be.”
‘They’re looking for a work/life balance, and lifestyle will be their priority’