AROUND THE BLOCK:TOMORROW'S NATIONAL property auction in Dublin's Shelbourne Hotel may well reveal whether the property market has finally bottomed out after two and a half years of fallling prices.
Members of the Real Estate Alliance are putting 70 properties on the block, most of them in the provinces where the market has taken a heavier hit than in the main cities and towns. Not surprisingly, most interest has been in the more expensive detached homes in the greater Dublin area where the guide prices are generally 50 per cent down on peak prices.
One of the lots most likely to sell is a large State-owned Victorian house, Firmount on five acres at Clane, Co Kildare. It needs total refurbishment and, should it make its AMV of €800,000, there will be no one happier than the Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan who will then be able to set off the proceeds against the billions being borrowed to bail out the banks. The three-storey over basement building extends to over 1,208sq m (13,000sq ft) and was originally used as a military hospital by the British. In more recent years it has served as the Dublin HQ for the Civil Defence.
A development site for sale in Carlow gives a good indication of how values have fallen. The 1.76-acre site near the town centre has full planning permission for 20 apartments and eight commercial units. The asking price? A mere €299,000.
Eimer O’Keeffe of REA says members are convinced that tomorrow’s auction – it gets under way at 11am – will act as a “catalyst to stimulate the market nationwide”. Let’s wait and see.
