Prices stagnate at the top in D14 but semis sell well
VALUES iare up 5pc in D14 with exemptions to the Central Bank’s lending rules seeing a busy market in the first six months of 2018. But even though most sales are agreed within four or six weeks, the time that it is taking to close those sales has been drifting out to four or five months on average.
Local agent Cathal McCarthy says that loan approvals ‘seem to be all over the place’, noting that even when buyers have approval in principle it can take a very long time to turn that into an approval proper once they nominate a property they wish to purchase.
The bulk of the housing stock here is made up of second-hand family homes, with the occasional small infill development. Half of the properties coming to the market are executor sales, most in need of upgrading and refurbishment.
“There are plenty of buyers for family houses in Dublin 14,” says McCarthy. “Prices are buoyant. Many who bought further out in Dublin 16 are looking to trade up into the older parts of Dublin 14 and be closer to the city, services and amenities.”
For first-time buyers, McCarthy says that the former corporation houses around Loreto and Nutgrove priced between €300,000 and €400,000 are a great starter location, but that some buyers are put off by the amount of work involved in refurbishing them. Only a small percentage are willing to take on the task, he says, and it’s never clear whether the banks are willing to lend for refurbishment.
“You can get a brand new house in Ballycullen for €400,000,” says McCarthy, “and first-time buyers like the glitzy newness of those, but you are two and a half miles further away from services than you would be in Loreto or Nutgrove.
“Anything second-hand in
turnkey condition sells quickly, but anything needing refurbishment has to be offered at a discounted price if it is to sell.” With high numbers of refurbs in D14, inflation should stay around 3pc this year. Mr McCarthy notes the enduring popularity of the solid pre-war houses in areas such as Butterfield and Crannagh, but also that new high-end townhouses and apartments at Camberley Oaks in Churchtown were snapped up quickly by affluent down-sizers.
At the same time, there was an appetite for larger new homes as six large new semis at Castle Park, also in Churchtown, sold for €795,000 apiece.