The Irish Independent, Saturday, January 24th 2015
“Water views,” says agent Owen Reilly when asked about the single biggest factor affecting the price of central apartments in Dublin 2. “You can easily add €100,000 on to a nice property when it overlooks Grand Canal Dock”.
Sales on all apartments exceeded expectations during 2014 due, in part, to the Capital Gains Tax deadline looming, but also for investors and owner-occupiers irritated at the low deposit rates in banks.
“They decided to make a move to buy which was was coupled with sellers who had held out for price, saw a surge and let go”.
There had been a supply miss-match for three quarters of the year with a pent-up demand from renters in this area.
The upward pressure on price encouraged more sellers on to the market who had put off trading up to now.
The biggest change was seen in the one-bed apartment sector which, at €250,000 on average, has seen a 35-40pc mark up on this time last year.
Reilly has “loads” of examples where much higher prices were achieved and recently sold a one-bed in the Gasworks development for €300,000 given its views towards the Aviva stadium and south facing aspect.
He expects apartments at Hanover Quay to continue selling upwards of €500,000 in 2015 but sees a tapering off of the high jumps in price, towards 8-10pc.
Foreign cash has had a huge impact in the area, but with pension funds and REITs accounting for the activity.
Many bulk deals are being done on larger developments but these are not re-entering the market; instead they are being held for rental yield.
“It’s a new departure for the Dublin property market,” says Reilly and it certainly won’t help supply in the sale sector, but it will be interesting to see if it calms the rental market as supply is added.
“Construction is getting moving now but if they are bought up in bulk like this it will skew the market”, concludes Reilly.
To read the article on-line, please click here.
The Irish Independent, January 24th 2015
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