UK buyers are fixing their sights on Irish property on foot of strong sterling values against the euro and soaring property prices over there.
While a 15 per cent increase in house prices here last year might have threatened to put some buyers off, the OECD has described Irish property as undervalued and by as much as 60 per cent in some rural locations. The value of sterling is also a driving factor with a €500,000 property now £26,041 cheaper than it would have been a year earlier.
Sherry FitzGerald has reported a rise in enquiries from the UK ahead of its annual London Irish Property Show in the Millennium Gloucester Hotel on February 21st."There are a lot of people over there looking anywhere at the moment for good investment opportunities and they are seeing the value of Ireland," says Sherry FitzGerald country director Triona Gorman.
“There are great rental returns and even if they’re only making a short-term investment they can expect to make an immediate return on their money,” she said, adding that the investor profile has changed.
“Now those attending are maybe a bit younger and see themselves moving back home in the long-term but they would like to buy now when they see the value and are looking for a return in between. We also have people with no Irish connections,” she said.
A recent study by UK property portal Rightmove found that 48 per cent more Britons had searched for Irish property in 2014 than the previous year.
Savills reported “considerable overseas interest” – including from Australia, Monaco and Dubai – for 10 exclusive luxury apartments it launched last week at 31-33 Merrion Road on the site of the former British embassy in Ballsbridge.
David Bewley of Lisney says interest in Irish property remains steady from the UK, Europe (and Singapore), but warns "there is not enough stuff coming on to the market at the moment to fuel more interest."
