TRENDS:If you like the bright lights and don't want to commute, it's cheaper than ever to buy in Dublin's city centre

THE HUSTLE and bustle of city-centre living isn’t for everyone but for Elena Gamble it was a no-brainer. After looking at places on the outskirts of the city, she bought a one-bed apartment in Christchurch Place in Dublin’s south city centre because she loved the sense of “community and vibrancy” in the area.

Brought up in Stillorgan and once a serial renter in the ’burbs, she misses having a garden but now can’t imagine ever wanting to move out of town. “I was moving in on my own and a factor was that it was close to friends and accessible to a lot of things including work. The apartment is bright, spacious, warm and surprisingly quiet.

“We don’t get street noise but we do get hotel noise such as deliveries in the morning. If there’s trouble, the hotel has a quiet policy so I just call them and they sort it out.”

People like Gamble who prefer the bright lights and convenience of the city centre to the predictability of the suburbs, have a choice to make – if they decide to buy, it’s most likely to be an apartment.

Gamble wasn’t put off by the prospect of having to pay an annual service charge and says the development is well maintained with a caretaker on site, but that is not the experience of all city centre apartment dwellers.

With management company problems rife and a national long-term love affair with houses, many people are happy to flirt with the notion of apartment living by renting but aren’t as keen to commit long-term, which is why the apartment-dominated city centre residential sales market, according to economist Geoff Tucker, has taken a bigger hit than some other parts of Dublin.

That said, estate agents say sellers are now more realistic with their prices and there’s been an encouraging number of buyers over the summer. “We had quite a few parents buying for children going to college and first-time buyers,” says Martin Doyle of Sherry FitzGerald, “But it’s dependent on price.”

The quality of the apartment is another factor. “In the south city centre, there’s been a lot of interest in apartments on Grand Canal Dock that tend to be quite big with balconies, schemes such as Camden Lock, Longboat Quay and Hanover Quay. We have a three-bed penthouse on Charlotte Dock asking €425,000 which has had good interest from a mix of families and young couples.”

“There is some stuff moving,” says Geoff Tucker. “There’s a split between the prime areas where there’s not a huge amount of supply and secondary locations which are not as popular. A lot of what’s on the market is of average quality and people are looking for a well-designed apartments at a fraction of the cost.”

While agents talk about apartments having to be priced correctly, he says in the absence of a house price register “ the issue is what is that price?”

Modern apartment schemes in the docklands, and upmarket, secure developments such as The Northumberlands off Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2 and Pembroke Square in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, appear to be the most in demand. At the moment you can buy a duplex at Hanover Riverside in the south docklands for around €299,000. A three-bed in The Camden, Charlotte Quay is asking €425,000. A two-bed apartment at Spencer Dock on the northside of the quays is €300,000 while a three-bed is asking €445,000.

Docklands-based estate agent Owen Reilly says he has clients who are looking to move into town because they want to get rid of their car. “If money is tight, it’s amazing how much of a luxury a car becomes,” he explains. “They might be hard-working and time poor and buying an apartment makes sense. They don’t have to deal with commuting to work or even cutting the lawn and feel that maintaining house is more expensive than a management fee.”

He says most of the apartments built during the boom are not suitable for families. “You don’t see four-beds anywhere and very few three-beds. You need a minimum of 93sq m (1,000sq ft), and outdoor space – there’s very few of those on offer.”

While there are little houses tucked away in little enclaves throughout the city centre, they are few and far between. On the fringes, houses in Stoneybatter, North Strand, East Wall, and Kilmainham are popular because some have big gardens with potential to extend. Closer to town in areas such as Macken Street, Pearse Street, Barrow Street and Christchurch, little houses and artisan cottages in good condition are popular with first-time buyers.

While investors have pretty much disappeared, Dublin city centre is one of the few places where you can find properties – mainly apartments – priced at or under €150,000. A search on Myhome.ie throws up a number, mostly in the north inner city, such as a one-bed apartment on Parnell Street asking €80,000, a one-bed on Bachelor’s Walk for €120,000 and a two-bed terraced house on Healy Street at €150,000.

But are there any takers for these cheaper properties in less prime locations? Yes, says Martin Doyle who says he has sold cheap inner city apartments to first-time buyers. “They see them as good value and cheaper to purchase than rent.” Owen Reilly says he recently sold an apartment off Bachelor’s Walk to a Chinese nationalfor €124,000. “Around Grand Canal dock, you’ll find a lot more Irish people, but there are a lot of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipinos in the north and south inner city. Some neighbourhoods get an unfair reputation which is less of an issue to someone who didn’t grow up here.”