Growing Demand for Executive/Luxury Homes in the South East

Second-hand homes are in demand

There are certainly more buyers looking towards the Arklow, Carnew and Gorey areas this autumn and these buyers are coming with greater budgets than we have seen over the past eight years; however, there is an ever-growing storage of high-quality, second-hand homes coming to the market right across the South East.  There are many possible reasons for this, like a lack of confidence in the higher-end of the property market locally or perhaps a lack of suitable properties for home–owners to move to, whether their intention is to trade up or to scale down.  Arguably, it is easier for those hoping to scale down as new developments tend to provider smaller units and a mix of houses and apartments.  So what is holding these potential sellers back?

Window of opportunity

There is a good window of opportunity right now for existing home-owners who might be thinking of selling over the next few years to bring their homes to the market before any significant volume of new developments are completed.  Also, in terms of delivery of new homes, what we are seeing in South Wicklow and North Wexford is that the first tranche of new developments are very much geared towards first-time buyers.  Home owners locally who are  looking to trade up are much more likely to choose an existing or second-hand family home.  Of course, this will not always be the case.  Over the next five years as we see first-time buyer and investor demand being satisfied, developers will start to develop larger, more executive-type homes for growing families to trade up into.  But for now, owners of larger homes within the commuter belt, which includes Gorey and much of north County Wexford, will find a cohort of ready buyers for their properties, provided these properties are well-presented and priced appropriately.

Rising property prices across the South East

Many local home-owners are not aware that property prices in Wexford increased at  rates of 11% – 13% over the past year, which is almost double the average increases seen nationally over the same period.

If you fall into this category and you want some initial advice or guidance about the current value of your home, contact myself, Michael, here at Kinsella Estates.  I can help you with more than the valuation by giving you some tips on minor work that could be carried out to improve your home in a way that adds value (multiple times the cost of the work).  Also, the team here are noticing a reduction in the time properties close to town are taking to sell, with some homes selling in less than three to four weeks.  Of course this depends entirely on having the right buyer finance-ready but it is something that we can discuss with you and prepare you for.

Holiday homes

It’s worth noting that this also applies to holiday homes that owners might have been holding onto for a few years longer than intended, waiting for the market to recover.  Earlier this year we saw a stunning holiday home at Roney Beach make over half a million euro, which was €100,000 in excess of the guide price.  This shows the gulf between the busyness of the market sub-€250,000 and the buyers waiting for an opportunity at the higher end of the market.  Certainly, it is a smaller and less active market but the advantage of a smaller market is that the buyers are known to our offices and this allows for direct contact to speed up the initial sales period.

If you are considering selling in the South Wicklow and North Wexford areas, call into one of our offices (located in Carnew and Gorey) and chat to any of our expert team or you can contact us online at kinsellaestates.ie.  We are happy to facilitate overseas buyers and sellers via Skype or similar, outside of regular office hours.

 Alternatively, email me directly on michael@kinsellaestates.ie or telephone : +353 53 94 21718