Agents are seeing more activity and more confidence from buyers, but the biggest problem they face is closing sales, which they blame on the banks, writes SANDRA O'CONNELL
JOHN AND SARAH Kearney understand why so many people choose to relocate to Wexford, because they did it themselves. After 20 years in London they moved to Ireland in the mid-noughties.
John is from Dublin and Sarah is English. Wexford, familiar to them from holidaying here, struck both as the ideal spot. Two years ago they set up Kearney Co, an estate agency in Wexford town. They have recently taken on their first member of staff. “Things have really picked up, we’ve had 13 sales so far this year,” says John. “A lot are receiver sales of apartments so the prices are very low. What we are finding is that Irish people are too afraid to buy, so it is overseas buyers, many of whom are people who know the area from holidaying here.”
In recent months these include the sale of two apartments to a Dutch man, one each to women from France and Germany, and one “to a young Polish couple who have lived here for years, got their mortgage approval and bagged a bargain”.
He believes the convulsions that have hit the property market are starting to ease.
“I was recently asked to value two holiday homes locally for NAMA, which made me realise that it is now getting down to the nitty gritty. These weren’t owned by big developers, but small guys who just can’t pay the mortgage on them. It’s an indication that things are starting to move.”
There is, he reckons, pent-up demand from purchasers. “Despite the property crash, people are still having babies and needing more space, or dying and needing to sell houses, marrying or splitting up – all the reasons people usually move house. The past couple of years has resulted in a logjam. Certainly, at the moment I need more property.”
On the other hand, more property is likely to come on the market in the next 12 months, he predicts. “Interest-only mortgages taken out five years ago, which were bought at the peak of the bubble, will start to come to the end of their interest-only term soon and the banks will start wanting capital repayments. That will lead to more properties coming on the market here.”
John Corish of Property Partners in Wexford has also seen an increase in activity. “Things are a little better this year than last, with more preliminary activity such as phone calls and viewings. Certainly we don’t have to check the phone every day to see if it’s broken as we did a couple of years ago when it just wasn’t ringing.”
Buyers recognise that they are getting value for money now, says Corish, who is currently handling the sale of four-bedroom houses of 1825sq ft at Elderwood, Castleridge, a development three miles north of Wexford town. A 90-house development, 65 have sold, almost all are owner occupied and all are finished.
“They originally went on the market at €435,000 and are now down to €215,000,” says Corish.
Wexford has a high number of unfinished estates, making it set to remain a buyers’ market for some time to come.
“One of the trends I am seeing very clearly is a total lack of bidding between buyers,” says Colum Murphy, managing director of Kehoe Associates in Wexford.
“If one person hears that another is interested in a property, they will just hop on to the next house rather than bid against someone.”
Buyers can now get one-off, detached family homes close to Wexford town for around €350,000. Kehoe’s is currently handling the sale of a small, new development of four, spacious three-storey houses with a very high-spec finish at Coolcotts Lane, seven minutes’ walk from the town centre, for €245,000.
“Yes there is more confidence out there, but the biggest problem we face is getting sales closed. It’s the banks,” says Wexford-based sales agent Dolores Power.
As elsewhere in the country, there has been a pronounced return to 1980s-style lending based on multiples of two and a half times one salary plus a second salary, as well as a requirement on buyers to prove they have saved a deposit of 10 per cent.
“The days of having parents going guarantor or gifting it to you are gone,” says Power.
Anecdotally, agents are getting an increased number of calls from buyers “chancing their arm”.
“A good bit of cash has been held back and people are coming in and making offers way below what we consider rock bottom in the hopes it is a distressed sale.”
Wexford’s commercial market is suffering too. “A lot of businesses are in difficulty and shops are closing, which means rents are coming down, which automatically pulls valuations down,” explains Power.
The closure of Dunne’s second outlet in the town, on the main street, has reduced footfall for the shops around it.
On the other hand, recent news of the arrival of Home Store More provides a welcome fillip for the town, while local success story Done Deal has almost outgrown its 1,500sq ft premises. Businesses are taking advantage of the fact that rents have fallen and lease terms have become more flexible.
One sector of the Wexford property market which is doing well is agriculture. “A couple of years ago agricultural land was getting around €7,000 an acre. Now you can get up to €14,000 for it in the north of the county,” says Power. “What’s more, banks are very anxious to lend to farmers.”
And the fact remains that the perennial attractions of Wexford living remain, irrespective of economic cycles.
“Wexford town has huge appeal to work and live in, with a wide variety of shops and businesses to choose from plus gorgeous beaches just a five minute drive away,” says Colum Murphy.
Those who recognise that appeal are in a stronger position than ever. “Buyers have a huge choice of property available to them in the county now and a total lack of competition from other buyers. They have it all their own way.”
