Buyers showing more caution in Dublin 6W
THE majority of growth in Dublin 6W, consistent across all types of properties, happened in the first six months of the year, along with the bulk of transactions.
“Viewing numbers were down from the summer on,” reports local agent Ronan O’Malley. “Buyers became more cautious as the threat of a no-deal Brexit loomed, and first-time buyers are finding finance tough to secure. But buyers who did not manage to secure a property in 2018 have told us that they will be back at the start of 2019, in the hope of having increased their borrowing capacity. We have lots of would-be first-time buyers with budgets of between €400,000 and €500,000, but the air is much thinner up past the the €800,000 price level. We found last year that properties in turnkey condition commanded a significant premium. The price of renovation work has increased considerably and people are finding it hard to borrow money for work. That means that in order to buy a house priced at €500,000 in good condition, you need less money in the bank (€50,000) than you do to buy a house priced at €400,000 needing €50,000 of work (€40,000 plus €50,000, making a total of €90,000).”
Larkfield, where houses are priced between €450,000 and €500,000, was popular with first-time buyers, as it ticks a lot of boxes in terms of proximity to schools and shops. And the dormer bungalows around Rathdown on Greenlea Road are always in demand, as are oneand two-bedroom apartments, but the ex-corporation houses off Mount Tallant struggled last year, as many needed work.
Assuming that Brexit is “reasonably positive”, O’Malley says that he is predicting 4pc growth for 2019.
“That’s where a healthy market should be say the economists, so we are celebrating that.”