WEST OF IRELAND:Once viewed as expensive luxuries beyond the reacvh of many, homes in the west have come own in price sharply of late, writes EDEL MORGAN.
GALWAY-BASED auctioneer Helen Cassidy says there has been “a bit of a bloodbath” in the west of Ireland with vendors having to stomach hefty price cuts to attract buyers.
She says vendors are now facing the reality that they will have to slash their original asking price, sometimes by as much as 20 to 36 per cent, to attract interest.
While the number of viewings are down on trophy properties, “you have fewer, but infinitely more decisive buyers and sellers. Those who are viewing are very committed, and will usually make a bid, however low.”
While there are price cuts happening all over the country she says it has been viewed as “somewhat of a luxury” to purchase in the west. “The fact that the prices have descended sharply has focused both buyer and seller to the essentials. I am now dealing with that shallow pool of buyers who are making a purchase of choice, not necessity,” she says.
One house on her books that has been dramatically reduced to sell is Castletown Schoolhouse in Cross, Co Mayo which has gone from €1.35 million to €895,000, a drop of 33.7 per cent.
The four-bed property is a renovated and extended former schoolhouse built in 1854 at the behest of Arthur Guinness of nearby Ashford Castle for the children of his tenants. The schoolhouse is made of cut stone and has a bell tower.
On a three-acre site it includes the remains of the Master’s Cottage, which has planning permission to be renovated and extended. There’s also a double garage stables with tack room to the rear.
With views over Ballynalty Bay on Lough Corrib, the 440sq m (4,736sq ft) house has a natural slate roof and underfloor heating on the ground floor.
Another house on her books that has undergone a substantial price cut is Annefield House, Hollymount, Co Mayo, a Georgian two-storey over basement property on seven acres which has been reduced from €950,000 to €695,000, a drop of 26.8 per cent
In need of work, the five-bed house was built in 1875 and past owners include Anthony Elwood, the Bowen family and the powerful Blake family. A Georgian two-storey over garden level house, the grounds have lawns, an old stone former coach-house and stables.
In Lettermore, Connemara, a seashore property has been cut from €1.1 million to €795,000 – a drop of 27.7 per cent.
It has been renovated and extended in the last two years and has four bedrooms, a mezzanine level, two bedroom en suites and a balcony.
On 2.6 acres, Dapping Lodge on Lough Corrib, three miles from Ballinrobe, Co Mayo was reduced from €1.5 million to €950,000 – a massive 36.6 per cent drop.
Built 26 years ago, it has its own private fishing jetty with room for two boats. On one-third of an acre, it has four bedrooms, several reception rooms and a garage.
Shanaveg in Tullycross, Kylemore, Co Galway, close to Kylemore Abbey, has gone from €750,000 to €550,000, a 26.6 per cent reduction. With 223sq m (2,400sq ft), it’s on half an acre of landscaped grounds and has four bedrooms, a livingroom, kitchen, diningroom, a mezzanine and study.
Cassidy says the people who are buying at present are mostly locating to the west from other parts of Ireland. “They would have observed the western market over the course of the boom and would have discounted the prices being requested as being too high or prohibitive. Now they see the prices reduce and are ready and able to engage, wishing to commit now.
“We’ve had several English and American queries, who have been watching the western market, observed the price rise and fall, and see the chance now to engage. They are a mix of fishermen, holidaymakers, and the Irish abroad who felt in the boom times that they had missed out and couldn’t compete; they are now looking closely at the western market and seeing perhaps now is the time to buy.”
Tony Kavanagh of Sherry FitzGerald Kavanagh in Clifden, Co Galway agrees that vendors in the west are having to substantially lower prices to lure potential buyers. Among the properties he currently has on his books is a detached five-bed house on Gentian Hill, Salthill, Co Galway for €795,000, a reduction of €155,000 or a drop of 16.3 per cent. The agency says a four-bed house in Drum East, Bushypark, Galway was originally €895,000 but is now €685,000, a 23.5 per cent discount.
He says his agency is getting very few new instructions to sell property “except from those who have to sell due to personal circumstances”. He says those who’ve had property on the market for a while are being quite realistic with average price cuts of around 20 per cent.
