Predictions that the property sector was heading for trouble did nothing to dampen the high end of the Dublin market in 2003,with period homes in prime locations in constant demand.Orna Mulcahy reports.
In a year when economists warned that the bottom would fall out of the property market, prices for the best Dublin houses kept on rising.
While some sectors of the market saw a modest fall off in values – buy-to-let apartments and new homes in west and north Dublin – demand for period houses in prime locations defied the gloomy economic forecasts.With interest rates historically low,people obviously decided that the safest place for their money was in a solid well-located home.
The top price paid for a family home was the 1 6.5 million-plus negotiated privately through Lisney for a large Victorian house at 38 Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge.
With high-worth individuals now queuing for good family homes in Ailesbury and Shrewsbury, most agents are continuously scouting for suitable properties to place privately.The supply is extremely limited as those in situ are conscious of the ever rising values and are understandably reluctant to sell. Just one house on Shrewsbury Road changed hands this year – a large 1930s semi at number 3, which Sherry FitzGerald sold for around €4.75 million, again in private negotiations.
Elsewhere in Ballsbridge,Jackson-Stops set a clear record on St Mary's Road in April when it sold number 31, a totally renovated detached house with its original large garden and mews for €5.1 million.Selling agent Peter Kenny had seven parties competing on auction day – a clear indication early in the year that there was plenty of money out there for the best houses. So it proved to be. Other Ballsbridge sales included Lisney 's € 4.1 million for a house at 36 Herbert Park that last changed hands in 1998 for €1.5million, HOK Residential 's €4.8 million for a large renovated house at 18 Elgin Road,and another strong Jackson-Stops result – € 5.1 million for a detached house at Argyle Road in Donnybrook that had been on the market for some time.
New price records were set in Dublin 6, where a good supply of houses did nothing to dampen demand. In yet another private sale, this time through Lisney, a large detached house at 18 Temple Gardens fetched around €4.5 million. Solid redbrick semis in Dartry and Rathgar fared particularly well with notable sales including €2.95 million for a renovated Victorian semi at Palmerston Villas through Sherry FitzGerald, and € 2.86 million for a large semi-detached redbrick at Highfield Road, Rathgar, also renovated, through Douglas Newman Good.
Yet again, Dalkey proved the most desirable south Dublin location with period houses in short supply. One of its most striking houses, Inniscorrig, a 19th-century gothic pile with direct access to the sea on Coliemore Road sold for around € 5.2 million,in private negotiations through Sherry FitzGerald. Meanwhile across the bay in Howth, Hilltop, a rambling detached house with stunning sea views on Baily, fetched around € 3.1 million through Ganly Walters.
