Worth the investment

Address: Castleforbes Square, off Castleforbes Street, Dublin 1.

Agent: Hooke & MacDonald.

Apartment type: one-bedroom apartment from €290,000.

What do you get? Built by developer Liam Carroll (a major player in the urban renewal game), Castleforbes Square is almost fully built. Apartments are low on frills but are built to maximise space and light and have storage areas. The one-bedroom units are around 46sq m (500sq ft) and have a living and dining area, well-appointed kitchens and bathrooms and a double bedroom with fitted wardrobes. The development has a communal area and a courtyard garden. Car-parking spaces cost €30,000 extra. There will also be crèche facilities.

Where? The development spans Sheriff Street and Castleforbes Street beside the Brooks Thomas timber yard, which is also owned by Carroll and earmarked for development. The IFSC is a 10-minute walk away.

What will it cost an investor to buy? At 80 per cent of the property value over 25 years at an investment mortgage variable rate of 3.6 per cent, the repayments per month would be €1,165.17. For an interest-only loan for the first five years, at 80 per cent of the cost based on a 25-year term, and an investment mortgage variable rate of 3.6 per cent APR, repayments per month for the first five years would be €682.47.

What will it cost to buy? At 92 per cent of the property value, at a current account mortgage variable rate of 3.3 per cent over 25 years, the monthly mortgage repayments would be €1,305.80. If the customer chose a repayment term of 35 years, the monthly repayments would be €1,070.45. The same mortgage could be taken over 40 years and monthly repayments would be €1,000.23.

Single income required: a single person purchasing as an investor would require a salary of approximately €62,700 to fund an 80 per cent mortgage over 25 years.

Joint income required: a couple would require a combined income of approximately €61,500 (€36,500 and €25,000) to finance a 92 per cent mortgage over 25 years.

Potential: while the neighbourhood has a raw docklands feel to it, most of the surrounding land and warehouses are going to be developed with apartments, offices, retail and hotels over the next five to 10 years, so buyers at Castleforbes will be getting in at an early stage. Sherriff Street is undergoing major redevelopment and the north docklands area may receive a massive boost when the Government makes a decision about the National Conference Centre. The proposed Luas extension will bring trains to the end of the street, while a waterside linear park is part of the overall strategy to improve the area. One-beds in the north docklands currently rent from €900-€1,200 a month.

Verdict: north docklands development has lagged behind for the last couple of years, with most of the action now happening across the river but the area looks set to catch up in the coming years. However, if over 3,000 apartments are built at Spencer Dock as planned, it will increase competition for tenants.

Calculations by First Active