Residential property prices in Dublin have risen by 23 per cent over the past year.
Eighteen people turn up for the auction, by estate agents Lisney on Thursday afternoon, of a midterrace Georgian house in need of renovation in Ranelagh, south Dublin. Most appear to be here to look.
Jana Langford, a 38-year-old who lives with her husband and child in Shankill, south Co Dublin, is one. She is expecting her second child soon and she says her home is too small and her commute is too long.
The couple have been looking for three months, and Langford has concluded that property is seriously overpriced. “I think people are looking for too much. It is a frustrating experience because I don’t think people have learned their lesson yet. It is hard when you are competing with investors. I wanted to see how many people would be here today and how far they would go,” she says.
Another young couple want to buy the Ranelagh house, which is on Charleston Road, as a first home. They have mortgage approval and they expect the house to go for €650,000, as a renovated one next door sold for €720,000.
They ’ve been looking every Saturday for a year. “We’re not under pressure to buy, as we don’t have a family yet, but we would rather move now than continue renting,” says the woman, who admits that the property market is disheartening.
After a slow start, the bidding quickly reaches a selling price of €880,000. The buyer is a native of Ranelagh whose family need more space, as a third child is on the way. “We only looked at five or six properties. We had specific requirements; our children are in school in the area,” he says.
The family had only been looking seriously for about three months. “The market is suffering from a lack of supply,” he says. “The banks haven’t really brought forward a lot of the stock. The market is hot and probably overheated.”
