Investors snap up homes ahead of first time buyers

AS first time buyers continue to struggle to find and buy a home scores of Kerry properties are being snapped up by investors.

For the last four years investors and property speculators have been buying houses in Kerry at twice the rate of first time buyers.

Just who has been buying property in Kerry is revealed in Central Statistics Office figures on completed Stamp Duty transactions.

While the numbers of newly built homes being purchased by first time buyers and investors are broadly similar far more pre existing homes are being purchased as investment properties, either to rent out or to sell on if and when the price rises.

For example last year 169 pre existing houses were purchased by first time buyers in Kerry.

In the same period 486 (including 35 bought by Kerry County Council for social housing) were bought by people or firms who told Revenue they didn’t plan to live them.

The figures were similar for the previous three years.

In 2014 a total of 430 older homes were bought by investors while just 202 went to first time buyers.

In 2013 313 were purchased by investors as opposed to 153 that went to first timers and in 2012 298 were bought by investors compared to 157 that were picked up by new entrants into the market.

When you compare the stamp duty figures with the CSO’s property price index you find that of the 1,046 pre existing properties sold in Kerry last year 45 per cent were bought by investors or for social housing.