Fierce battles for houses in Nth Cork
MYHOME.IE REPORT FOR FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR SHOWS LITTLE GROWTH IN SALES ACROSS ENTIRE COUNTY
COUPLES are battling fiercely for every last house coming on a property market in North Cork that is strangled by a lack of supply.
A property report by MyHome.ie released on Tuesday claims there was little growth in the market across the county in the first three months of this year on last.
But it’s not an accurate reflection of the appetite for property that exists out there at present amid resurgent prices, according to local estate agents.
“I would query the report in so far as it doesn’t give an accurate reflection of just how busy the market is in rural Cork at present and it’s certainly not reflective of the way prices have been going here,” said Sarah O’Keeffe of Charleville-based REA O’Keeffe. “There is fierce competition out there at the moment for homes, particularly for those under the €200,000 mark.
“Just to give one example, we had upwards of 10 viewings for a rural bungalow when it went on the market recently. In a rural area that’s very strong,” Ms O’Keeffe said.
Ms O’Keeffe estimates that prices have risen in the order of 10 per cent in the space of the past year alone, driven up by a serious lack of supply. “It’s supply which is the big problem for all agents; trying to get houses is the difficulty. Although, that said, there has been a slight increase in supply in the last few months thankfully.”
SALES of houses in Cork have risen little on last year according to figures released by property website MyHome.ie on Tuesday.
Just ten more properties were sold in the first quarter of the year than in the first quarter of 2016, representing a rise of just one per cent - well below the five per cent growth in the market seen nationally.
While the figures suggest a lethargic market, it appears the reality couldn’t be more different on the ground, however.
Estate agents in North Cork say they are struggling to meet demand at a time of fierce competition, particularly in the market for homes under the €200,000 threshold.
If anything, the figures reflect the difficulty currently being experienced regarding the lack of supply of homes, according to Sarah O’Keeffe of REA O’Keeffe Estate Agents Charleville.
The quarterly report shows that 1,151 homes changed hands in Cork in the months of January, February and March; compared to the 1,141 transactions for the same period last year.
“I would query the report in so far as it doesn’t give an accurate reflection of just how busy the market is in rural Cork at present and it’s certainly not reflective of the way prices have been going here,” Ms O’Keeffe told The Corkman.
“There’s fierce competition out there at the moment for homes, particularly for those under the €200,000 mark.
“Just to give one example, we had upwards of ten viewings for a rural bungalow when it went on the market recently. In a rural area that’s very strong,” Ms O’Keeffe added.
She feels house prices in North Cork are nothing short of resurgent, with a sharp rise witnessed even in the past 12 months alone.
“In general I’d put the rise somewhere in the order of 10 per cent, in the past year,” she said. “We’re achieving €245,000 at present for four-bed semis in one estate in Mallow where similar homes were selling in the order of €170,000 - €185,000 at the start of last year.”
“It’s supply which is the big problem for all agents; trying to get houses is the difficulty. Although that said there has been a slight increase in supply in the last few months thankfully.”
Loans are no longer the impossibility they once were at the depths of the recession with the banks freeing up more and more home loan credit all the time, Ms O’Keeffe added.
“People seem to be having less of a problem than was the case these past few years in getting the financing for homes. They have their mortgages approved and are ready to go, but the lack of supply is the big issue,” she said.
Sales in Cork in the first three months of the year account for roughly 11 per cent of all transactions nationally.
Unsurprisingly, the market is at its most intense in and around the capital with a notable upswing in commuter belt counties.
However, Managing Director of MyHome.ie Angela Keegan, said the west and south are showing a declining market.
“While sales may be up in the commuter belt and most other parts of Leinster, it’s a very different story in the west and south.
“Sales in Donegal are down 21%, in Sligo its 8% and in Mayo it’s 17%. Further south they are down 16% in Limerick and 8% in Kerry.”