PROPERTY:BAD SUMMER weather and the economic slowdown have hit the once booming mobile homes market according to a number of industry sources.
While holiday parks around the country are reporting that mobile home owners are still turning up in reasonable numbers despite what one park owner describes as "an Augustus horribilis", there are indications that some are no longer enamoured of the lifestyle.
At the upper end of the market at the exclusive Jack's Hole resort in Brittas, Co Wicklow, there are five mobile homes for sale - a turnabout from the heady days when wealthy business people and captains of industry clambered to snap up well-located mobile homes there, pushing prices as high as €250,000 for sites with private beach access.
This summer several of the mobile homes at Jack's Hole have languished on the market for months, with rumours of price drops and some vendors being open to offers.
"Of course we've been affected, just like everywhere else," says John Agar, who is holding firm on the €125,000 asking price for his three-bedroom mobile home at the resort, but who says the incessant rain has scuppered potential viewings.
Ann Lait auctioneers has two three-bedroomed mobile homes at Jack's Hole on its books priced at €115,000 and €125,000, the latter at a premium because it's near the beach. On top of the asking price, there's an €8,000 annual maintenance charge and a €12,000 fee for a 10-year lease.
Aoife Byrne of Ann Lait auctioneers says there's no doubt the second-homes market is suffering. "People are cutting back, and the hospitality industry is feeling the pinch, so mobile homes are going to be affected."
However, a mobile home enthusiast who has leased a large site in a Wicklow caravan park for 20 years, told The Irish Times that despite the gloom there would always be diehards who will cling to the prospect of good weather.
Proof that the market is far from collapse, he says, are the waiting lists of up to five years to get into some well-located parks on the east coast. "It's a way of life: as soon as you pull in to the park there's a holiday atmosphere, you get the smell of the barbecue and it's great for the kids."
The lure of a holiday atmosphere and a good barbecue isn't enough for everyone, however. Listings website DoneDeal.ie reports a 52 per cent increase in the number of ads for mobile homes compared to this time last year.
"This figure has to be tempered with an increase in the number of people visiting the site," says Paula Ronan, a spokesperson for DoneDeal.ie.
"But in previous years you wouldn't have seen many for sale. Some people are offloading them because it's getting harder to rent them out and they can't afford the site costs (which can range from €1,500 to €8,000) and insurance."
A caravan park owner in Connemara, who declined to be identified, said he had experienced a 50 per cent drop in mobile home sales since last year.
"We couldn't keep up with the demand over the last 10 years, but now people are reluctant to pay €40,000 to €70,000 for a new mobile home and are looking for good second-hand ones that are cheap."
He says the area of the park reserved for touring caravans had been "very badly" affected by both the weather and an abundance of cheap hotel accommodation in the area.
