Briskdemandfor fewerproperties
A shortage of houses being put up for sale during the COVID-19 pandemic is making for an aggressive market and disappointed under-bidders, according to local auctioneer Brian Carroll of Sherry Fitzgerald Carroll.
He reveals that there has been a drop in the number of residential properties coming on the market which this has resulted in very keen bidding.
‘ The market is very aggressive at the moment with a shortage of stock across the region and nationally,’ he said. ‘ The level of transactions is down because of COVID and the level of stock is also down by 40%.’
This makes for a very competitive market for those properties which are for sale.
‘We are seeing strong activity across the property sector in general in a majority of price brackets,’ he continued. ‘Blackrock as always attracts good interest with viewings and at present multiple bidders’
With such keen interest, he says the firm have had quite a few examples of properties achieving well in excess of the guide prices. Examples include a detached two storey house on Seafield Road, Blackrock which sold for €650,000 – €50,000 above the guide priced while another house at Rathmount, Blackrock has been sale agreed at €392,000 – €27,000 above the guide price.
‘We have noticed purchasers returning back to buy closer to home… most people relocating to Dundalk and surrounds have some sort of connection to the area,’ continued Brian. ‘People missed support and family during the harsh lockdown earlier in the year. Working from home has opened up a whole new concept to people.’
Working from home has also resulted in people looking to trade up, he explained. ‘We are getting people wanting to move from a three-bedroomed house to one with four bedrooms so that they can convert one of the bedrooms into a home office.’
As rents are still quite, cheaper mortgage rates are encouraging first time buyers to use their mortgage approval.
‘People who are renting in Dublin are relocating back to the regions and this is happening across the entire country.#
The strong rental market has
seen the return of investors in lower end of the market, with multiple bidders for numerous properties.
Across all sectors, there are a been a lot of disappointed bidders, he said. This is largely due to the lack of stock.
‘Currently we are selling approximately 1000 units across the Sherry FitzGerald network
per month but only bringing around 600 second-hand homes to the market each month.’
‘Completed transactions will be lower for year 2020,’ he coninued. ‘In 2019 over the full year we had around 1726 properties registered as sold in Co. Louth – to date in Co. Louth we have 891 sales registered which will increase as the year finishes.’