December bonanza with more than 50 €1m-plus property sales recorded in Dublin

December was a busy month for sales closing, with more than fifty €1 million-plus homes sold in Dublin, and more likely to emerge on the Property Price Register in coming weeks.

Number 69 Park Avenue, one of the best houses in Sandymount, complete with a 102m-long rear garden and tennis court, sold for less than its €3.9 million asking price, achieving €3.75 million (€12,615 per sq m). While it’s a substantial sum, it’s still a far cry from the €8.5 million sought for the near-identical adjoining house in 2008. That house has since undergone a major refurbishment and extension, and it is likely that the fortunate new owners of number 69 will undertake similar works to propel the house into the Celtic Phoenix era.

Also in Dublin city, one of a pair of houses sold in 2016 with a combined asking price of €1.35 million has been refurbished and flipped. Number 128 Rathgar Road was brought to the market in 2017 seeking €1.495 million, the sale closed in December at €1.91 million. However the register notes that this figure is VAT exclusive, suggesting that €2.165 million was the impressive final selling price (€9,060 per sq m).

Hillside House on Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, which came on the market in June 2015 seeking €2.95 million, has finally sold for a much reduced €2 million. The drop is even more surprising considering the huge gains that have been made in Dublin residential property during this time. The 430sq m (4,340sq ft) house occupies a 1.33 acre site and includes a separate two-bedroom coach house. Its asking price was reduced to €2.25 million one year ago.

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There were also a handful of million-plus new homes sales in December. Developer Oakmount sold 26 Morehampton Lane, one of four top-end houses it has developed on the Donnybrook lane, for €2.05 million. Cairn Homes sold 1 The Avenue, a house at their Marianella scheme in Rathgar, for €1.575 million. Likewise, Kalidone Developments sold 6 Balure at their Balure development off Church Road, Killiney, for the same amount. Nearby in Dalkey, a new-build named Bagheira sold for €1.32 million, when VAT is added, according to the register. It and another house, Almese, which achieved €1.225 million in July, were developed on the site of 9 Old Quarry, a modest bungalow that was acquired for €757,000 in 2016 and subsequently demolished.

Three top-end apartments also featured in December's sales. In Dartry, Sherry FitzGerald brokered the sale of 27 Brookfield Court on Richmond Avenue South for a staggering €1.55 million, equating to €9,627 per sq m. The 161sq m (1,728sq ft) penthouse was constructed in 2006 atop an existing 1970s apartment block. Being the only apartment on the fourth floor, it enjoys a quadruple aspect and is finished to a high standard. There was significant interest in the property, with the winning bidder paying €200,000 over the asking price.

Finally, a unit in exclusive Dunloe Hall at 29 Merrion Street, situated alongside the Merrion Hotel and facing Government Buildings, hit the property price register at €1.65 million. Businessman Paul McGlade, founder of Therapie Clinics and Champion Sports, who was adjudged bankrupt in July 2017, owned the apartment. The new buyer of the apartment, 5 & 6 Dunloe Hall, a duplex extending to about 2,000sq ft, is a company of which Mr McGlade's children are the only directors.