Bought for €135k in 2015… now back on sale for half a million
IT’S the terraced cottage that sums up the current property boom – a twobedroom cottage which has almost quadrupled in value in under two years.
The house on Church Road in East Wall on the northside sold for €135,500 in June 2015, and now, after a complete makeover, it’s back on the market for €525,000.
The property now has a twostorey extension, which increased its size by about a third.
Developer Adrian Richards, of Claremont Construction, spent €200,000 on the refurbishment and now it’s a modern, trendy pad of 192sq.m (2,066sq.ft) not too far from central Dublin.
Estate agent Owen Reilly, who is handling the property, says that despite the almost €400,000 price rise, it still represents good value for money as it works out at around €254 per square foot.
The cottage’s extraordinary rise in the asking price comes as the CSO’s Property Price Index yesterday revealed average house values went up by almost 11% in the year to February. This means the average house value of €257,600 across the country went up by almost €25,000.
While slower than the rest of the country in recent years, figures show Dublin has now taken off, with house values up by 8.1% and apartments up by 9.1%.
Values for the rest of Ireland (i.e. excluding Dublin) were up by 13.1% over the same period. The strongest growth was in the West, where values were up by 19.8%. Slowest growth outside Dublin was in the Mid-East region at 9.3%.
Property expert John McCartney, of agents Savills, said: ‘We’re in for a period of rapid houseprice inflation and it’s related to under-supply in the market. Now the affordability barriers have been lifted by Help to Buy and the slight relaxation of the mortgage lending rules by the Central Bank.’
Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers CEO Pat Davitt warned there was simply not enough house-building going on: ‘There are only a few large operators building residential in Dublin city. This lack of competition is fuelling price growth.’
There were 2,658 homes sold in February – 104 less than in February last year, according to yesterday’s CSO report.
‘This represents a 3.8% decrease compared to February 2016, and a decrease of 15% compared to January 2017,’ the report stated.
Of the four administrative areas of Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown was the most expensive, with an average of €555,346.
The cheapest county was Longford, with an average of €87,584.
Overall, the national index is still 30.7% lower than at its precrash peak in 2007.
Values have risen by 52.1% since their lowest point in 2013, the CSO reports.
Property – Page 44 christian.mccashin@dailymail.ie
Values nationally up by almost 11%