Residential property does not seem to have much appeal as an investment option in the current market. Falling rents, declining property prices and changes in both lending and taxation policies, not to mention the wider economic mess, have combined to bring enthusiasm and confidence in this particular sector to all-time lows.
However there are great properties in the market.
Business Breakfast on Newstalk 106 – 108 with Conor Brophy has asked Karl Deeter, operations manager of Irish Mortgage Brokers, to highlight a few gems in the market.
1) 33 Kings Avenue, Ballybough, Dublin 3 – €85,000
What the vendors/agents say:
Mature one bedroom terrace property ideally situated just off Ballybough Road, close to Dublin City centre, Croke Park, IFSC and a host of established amenities.
Accommodation: living room, extended kitchen and shower room. Aluminium windows, rewired, small south facing yard to the rear.
What PropertyWeek.ie can add:
This is currently the cheapest house on the market in Dublin. A 1-bed terrace in Summerhill in Dublin 1 was sold earlier in the year and its final asking price was €75,000, and GWD also had a 1-bed in Ballybough at €75,000 (down from €250,000 in April 2008!); but this one on Kings Avenue appears to be the cheapest at the moment.
Only apartment units have come up for sale in the past on this road (reaching up to €270,000 in price in 2007!), and most of them have been bigger in floor area than this tiny slice of real estate. Two larger and more expensive terraces have gone sale agreed / sold in the last few weeks in Ballybough, both having been on the market for a long time and after many price cuts.
The average price per square metre based on latest asking prices for terraced properties in Ballybough works out at €2,589 per sqm (€241 per sq.ft), and 33 Kings Avenue is working out at €2,297 (€213), so it appears to be “well adjusted” in terms of pricing. And, when compared to other 1-bed terraced properties in the city, working out on average at € 3,222 per sq.M (€ 299 per sq.ft) you might be tempted: The only cheaper one we can identify in terms of price per sqm is 1 Thompson Cottages just off the North Circular Road which at €89,950 asking price works out at €2,092 per sqm.
2) 142 Rialto Cottage, Rialto, Dublin 8 – €149,950
What the vendors/agents say:
Situated just off the Grand Canal and the South Circular Road providing convenient access to the City Centre, the Red Line LUAS and St. James’ Hospital, a two bedroom cottage in need of modernisation offering an opportunity to pick up a city centre property. Accommodation briefly comprises of entrance hall, livingroom, one double bedroom, one single bedroom, kitchen/breakfastroom, bathroom & two small store rooms.
What PropertyWeek.ie can add:
At €150,000 this is by far the cheapest Rialto Cottage to have been on the market for quite some time. Since 2003 over 40 of them have been on the market, transforming this once neglected part of Dublin 8 into a bit of a phenomenon. In February 2007 number 139 was put on the market for the mind-numbing price of €420,000, before being cut to the equally ludicrous €390,000. We can only guess the vendors didn’t get that as the same agents not long afterwards were marketing number 87 for €350,000 and then cut that to €330,000 before starting successful negotiations with a buyer. Since then, it’s been a story of steadily being put back in its place for Rialto Cottages. Number 90 sale agreed in March this year with a last recorded asking price of €160,000, having been cut from €185,000.
3) 15 Strandville Avenue, North Strand, Dublin 3 – €140,000
What the vendors/agents say:
2 bedroom, end-terrace house, bursting with opportunity. Located in the increasingly popular North Strand, this property boasts considerable space and potential for further development, due to the great scope that the rear garden presents. In an ideal location for young professionals, Strandville Avenue offers proximity to city centre, public transport and many local amenities, both commercial and recreational. At such a knock down price, this is an ideal opportunity for a purchaser with vision.
What PropertyWeek.ie can add:
This property has been on the market since June 2008 and constantly playing catch-up with the market has had four price cuts. Has it finally got the pricing right at €140,000? It now works out at €2,154 per square metre (€200 per sq.ft), which is a good deal below the current average for 2-bed terraces in Dublin city of €2,799 per sqm. There’s another 2-bed end-terrace, only slightly bigger, on Strandville Avenue at present, which was on the market back in 2004 at €380,000 and may have sold to the current vendors at around that price, but that now has a price tag of €270,000 (down from €300,000 in April), working out at €4,022 per square metre. That makes number 15 look cheap, but when you consider that the only property that has gone sale agreed on this road is quite some time is a 1-bed apartment, you might wonder.
4) 132 Oliver Plunkett Avenue, Irishtown, Dublin 4 – €290,000
What the vendors/agents say:
An attractive townhouse that has great potential subject to some modernisation. The property has been extended. No 132 is a well located property in this popular area close to all amenities including Ringsend Park, Irishtown Stadium and Sandymount Strand.
What PropertyWeek.ie can add:
This property is working out at €4,667 per sqm (434 per sqft) which is in a much higher price bracket than the others in this report – mostly down to its location in what is at least perceived widely to be a better area to live than Dublin 3 and 8.
There have been six terraced houses for sale on this road in the past 12 months, only one of which has sale agreed from what we can see – a 3-bed that may not have required work, which was on last on the market at €325,000, €4,221 per sqm. Another 2-bed period terrace on the market at the moment on the road has been through a series of price cuts since 2008 to be now priced at €325,000, but it is considerably bigger and works out at €3,916 per sqm. Out of eight such properties sale agreed in Irishtown in the past 12 months, the agent listing this property has recently sale agreed one that also needs complete modernisation; it had its price cut from €290,000 in 2009 to €245,000 in February of this year, at which price it was was working out at €5,568 per sqm, which may be down to St Brendan’s Cottages being more sought-after. Prices and rents can vary dramatically from one street to the next in the same area.
