Foxrock’s luxury second-hand homes market is showing distinct signs of sluggishness, with the latest €1 million-plus sale on exclusive Westminster Road coming in at a whopping €775,000 less than the €3.25 million price originally sought for it when it launched in September 2017. Thornfield, a lavish 515sq m (5,543sq ft) residence, appeared in the property price register as having sold for €2.475 million last month.
Two doors away, one of the best properties in the locale, Kenure, hit the market in 2016 seeking €5.5 million but disappeared last summer. No sale has been recorded since.
Meanwhile, a number of properties still linger on the market, including three on Kerrymount Avenue – arguably Foxrock’s top address, where houses rarely change hands. Heather Lodge, a pretty Edwardian house on half an acre, hit the market last year seeking €2.45 million and has since been reduced to €1.95 million.
Back in 1999, when a house directly across the street, featuring a marginally larger plot and better orientation, came up for sale it made more than €3 million (IR£2.4 million).
On and off market
Two other houses on the street are also for sale. Cooldrinagh has been on and off the market since 2013, and is now seeking a reduced €2.75 million, and The Bawn, on 1.5 acres, is asking €6 million.
A look at sales in Foxrock for 2018 shows that of all the €1 million-plus transactions entered in the property price register, 20 related to second-hand home sales that were marketed for sale on the open market and not purchased for development. (Various other transactions were recorded relating to properties that were not advertised for sale.)
Of those 20 sales the average asking price, before price reductions, was about €1.51 million, whereas the eventual sales price was about €1.38 million – signalling an average drop of €130,000, or nearly 9 per cent, off the asking price. A small minority of homes sold for over their asking, including 8 The Coppins, which went €75,000 over its asking price. Voewood, on Hainault Road, took the biggest hit, selling for €450,000 under its €2.5 million asking price.
New homes market
The affluent suburb’s new homes market fared better than its second-hand counterpart, with eight €1 million-plus sales recorded at an average of €1.32 million, and more new homes are understood to be sale-agreed. Castlethorn, headed by local resident Joe O’Reilly, closed six such sales at its Brighton Wood development, with prices of up to €1.55 million achieved. Homeland Projects closed two €1.33 million sales at its Stanford Park development on Westminster Road. It also sold the original period house on on the grounds where the new homes are being constructed, Stanford House, for €1.5 million.
