Prime site prices show market's slide

TWO RESIDENTIAL sites going for sale today in the north Dublin suburbs of Clontarf and Killester clearly show how much land values have fallen since since the property market took a nosedive.

A site of 1.77 acres, at 199 Howth Road in Clontarf, with planning permission for 59 apartments, is for sale at €2 million, while another plot of just under three-quarters of an acre, at 169 Killester Avenue in Killester, with planning approval for nine houses, can be bought for as little as €450,000.

Wesley Rothwell of CB Richard Ellis, who is handling both sales, says that while development sites around the country have dropped by over 90 per cent in many cases, those in the Dublin suburbs are probably down by 75 to 80 per cent.

In fact the guide price for the Howth Road site – it is immediately adjacent to the intersection with the St Lawrence Road – suggests the fall in values in this location has probably been even greater. The €2 million being sought equates to a valuation of only €33,900 per unit – a long way short of the €250,000-plus per unit frequently paid at the peak of the market.

Rothwell says that with a swing away from apartments because of the surplus supply overhanging the market he believes the site will appeal either to developers who would seek alternative permission for 10 to 12 good-sized houses, an owner-occupier looking for an exceptional site for a new home or companies planning to build a nursing home.

The second site, on Killester Avenue, is located a short distance north east of its junction with Collins Avenue East. The planning permission allows new owners to demolish a derelict house and two sheds on site and replace them with 24 apartments. A modified permission subsequently granted by An Bord Pleanála allows for the development of seven three-bedroom houses and two two-bed homes.

Meanwhile, CBRE is currently in discussions with a number of parties interested in another site of almost two acres a short distance away, in Sutton. Offers in the region of €1.55 million are being sought for the 1.98 acre plot beside Sutton Cross which was originally bought in 2003 for €11 million. It has planning permission for 60 apartments, most of them two-bedroom units.