With a busy season ahead, expect to see premium prices paid for properties with development potential in the garden, writes Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor
The autumn sales season has begun and signs are it's going to be frenetic with estate agents reporting a higher than expected volume of houses coming on the market in most parts of Dublin. Although no one is suggesting oversupply just yet, vendors are obviously keen to get their properties out there while prices are still seen to be rising.
While the rate of house price growth has slowed, the trend is still upwards, but only just. According to the PermanentTsb/ESRI house price index published earlier this week, prices rose by 1.1 per cent in July, while the increase for the 12 months to July was over 15 per cent. However, with further interest rate increases expected before the end of the year, sellers are unlikely to see the knock-out prices achieved earlier in the year.
Still, property is the preferred investment for many players with plenty of money chasing well located family homes, particularly if there is development potential.
Corner sites are especially sought-after, as even the smallest corner garden will allow space for an extension while larger gardens can accommodate a new house.
In the Dún Laoghaire Rathdown area no less then 20 per cent of all new housing is concentrated in corner sites.
One of the most interesting corner sites to come on the market this week is at Sandycove in Co Dublin.
... Park Lodge is an impressive 1840s house on Castlepark Road with a garden that sweeps around to Breffni Road and encompasses a new detached house called Kootenay. The entire site of just over two-thirds of an acre is now for sale, including both houses, with approximately 98.5 metres (325ft) of road frontage.
Douglas Newman Good has put an AMV of €6.2 million on the property which will be offered in lots at auction on September 21st.
There is a chance that the houses will be bought separately as homes - Park Lodge is estimated at €4.2 million while three-bedroom Kootenay has an AMV of €2 million.
However, it's far more likely that a developer will buy the lot and fill in the green space.
With 38 metres (125ft) of frontage onto fashionable Castlepark Road, the side garden of Park Lodge could accommodate a short terrace of houses to match those on the other side of the house. According to selling agent Stephen Manek, Park Lodge itself could be divided into two semi-detached houses. Originally the dower house of nearby Castle Park - now a school - the semi-detached house was given a complete makeover by Derek Ryan, an architect for the Freemasons. Originally a villa-style house with granite steps up to the upper level, he turned it into a more conventional two-storey house with reception rooms on the ground floor. It's a fine home of around 372sq m (4,000sq ft) though it suffers from having its best rooms upstairs.
Meanwhile, the high-spec new house, built by a son of the family in recent years, is a strikingly modern home of 186sq m (2,000sq ft) with an open-plan layout. It has a large garden and off-street car-parking. ...
