The autumn property season is well under way and now seems like a good time to take a look at how a selection of Dublin properties featured in the last year fared between asking price and final sale price.
This selection was made on the basis of houses that proved popular when we wrote about them and that attracted good interest. Delving between our archives and the Residential Property Price Register (propertypriceregister.ie) threw up some interesting findings.
Good looks really do count
Some very well-turned-out properties with substantial makeovers still seemed pricey for their size and location when they came to market – Mayflower House on Tubbermore Road in Dalkey was one such property. The three-bed cottage on the edge of Dalkey Village had an asking price of €998,000 and sold within three months for €1.25 million, a 25 per cent improvement.
Meanwhile, Melvin Road, a former Guinness-owned three-bed in Terenure, which the architect owners gradually extended into a comfortable well designed two-bed, launched in March seeking €395,000 and sold in July for €505,000, a whopping 28 per cent above the asking.
The three-bed – and mid-priced four-bed – market appears to be populated by buyers who aren’t all that price sensitive and have the cash to spend over the odds for what they want. It would seem cash-rich downsizers and young buyers helped by the Bank of Mum & Dad are applying pressure at this level.
Fixer uppers favour the brave
And then there were properties that were picked up for a song in the doldrums of recession with the sole purpose of turning them around. 1 Martello Terrace on Strand Road in Sutton was bought in 2014 for €400,000. The property-savvy owners transformed the simple brick cottage and adjoining lookout tower to maximise light and views and put the three-bed up for sale at the end of 2016 for €995,000. By May it sold for €1.216 million, 22 per cent above the original asking price.
Another three-bed, this time on a modest thoroughfare with on-street parking in Ranelagh, 3 Oxford Road came on in May. The owners had paid just €365,000 for it in 2012, but an extension, an attic conversion and lashings of Farrow & Ball later and it was on, seeking €945,000. It sold last month for €1.07 million, 13 per cent above the asking.
Don’t overlook the ugly ducklings
Number 31 Rathgar Avenue was placed for sale in July 2016, seeking €750,000. Handsome and on good ground it required total renovation. Builder Kevin Moran suggested a further €280,000 would bring it up to contemporary scratch. It sold in February for €695,000, 7 per cent below the asking. Houses like this are a turn-off for many, but for someone with the appetite and nerve for a refurb it was most likely a very good buy.
High-end properties are quite price sensitive
Buyers at the top end of the market seem more immune to the frothy pricing evident in the mid-market. Yes, prices are high, but these are premium properties in premium areas.
Take 64 Palmerston Road which went on sale seeking €3 million in September 2016. On the sunny side of one of the best roads in Dublin 6, it sold in June for €2.8 million, 6 per cent shy of the asking price.
Similarly, 19 Wellington Road, the elegant D4 home of the late PJ Mara, was put on the market in February for €2.75 million, and sold in June for €2.6 million, 5 per cent below the asking. Pricing is about right, but buyers at this level can afford to play hard- ball.
Demand for family homes in classic suburbs
Number 6 Iona Drive in Glasnevin typified the classic home in the suburbs when it came on seeking €925,000. Within six months it sold for €1.052 million, a good 13 per cent higher – reflecting the pent-up demand for homes of this type.
Number 12 Deerpark Road was another substantial family home in leafy Mount Merrion that raised eyebrows when it went on sale for a very bullish €1.75 million in high summer. By September it appeared on the Property Price Register as sold for €1.8 million – setting the bar even higher in this already very popular locale.
