2020 is here and as we look towards the next year we thought it would be good to give our clients a round up of 2019. For Kinsella Estates it was a good year with lots of property deals and opportunities. In the last year there has been lots of ups and downs – as always! Some interesting statistics became available recently, as according to the Wealth Report by Ronan Lyons and published on Daft.ie, the average asking price for a property in Wexford is €205,366. The same report shared that the average asking price for a property in Wicklow is €332,561 but please note that this is an average price for all of Wicklow but there are different prices obviously between South and North Wicklow. We have some beautiful South Wicklow properties and with accessibility improving all the time, South Wicklow offers buyers lots of value. 

As previously reported, in 2018, a total of 18,072 new dwelling were completed illustrating a 25% increase on 2017 figures. Expert forecasts (earlier this year) reported an estimated figure of 23,000 units to be built in 2019 but it is still below the estimated figure of 35,000 a year that is needed to meet demand. Final figures of new dwellings for 2019 are not available yet but there are many reports due to be published in the coming weeks that’ll share these insights. 

The new homes market has grown – just as expected and more and more developments are popping up all over the region with the help-to-buy (HTB) scheme further improving on figures. The HTB scheme is being extended and this was certainly welcome news to buyers of new homes and it will continue to drive prospective buyers towards new homes. Other news recently included the Central Banks decision to not relax the mortgage lending rules in 2020 – something a lot of first-time buyers were hoping for. Saving for a deposit remains difficult for those who are renting property. 

The South East regions volume of transactions in 2019 has been heartening and there has been significant interest in property in the area. Kinsella Estates has had the honour of being instructed to sell some beautiful residential properties as well as selling commercial units and land or sites. Our team at Kinsella Estates are specialists when it comes to selling your home, farm, business or investment property and we have enjoyed every bit of 2019. With almost five decades of property knowledge and expertise, our reputation for auctioneering excellence is well deserved and as we head towards a new decade we couldn’t be more committed to the business and we are excited about what 2020 will bring. 

Happy New Year from all of us at Kinsella Estates

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, 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 www.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

The 12 Rooms of Christmas!

Kind of like the 12 Days of Christmas but with a difference -12 Rooms, 12 Days, 12 Prizes and, 12 Winners! 

https://youtu.be/ZZEBmij0vFM

All you have to do is keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates on the competition and nominate someone who you think would benefit from a festive inspired gift (for a certain room in their house) just in time for Christmas. Or nominate yourself! Don’t forget caring is sharing so please like our page and share the Facebook post too. 

Winners will be announced at the end of the 12 Rooms of Christmas competition (17th/18th December) and all nominated people will be chosen at random for each day.

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, 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 www.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

Christmas is coming and there is nothing better than taking the time to enjoy some Christmas inspired events for all the family to enjoy. Wicklow and Wexford have many events running that can bring the magic alive and create memories for the rest of your lives. Here are just some of the events in your area:

The Wexford Winterland Festival 

The Wexford Winterland Festival brings the magic of Christmas to Wexford town this festive season. There is something for all the family in their action packed programme of events with the return of The Winterland Parade, Wexford on Ice, The Christmas Express Train and Santa’s North Pole Experience. The festival takes place from Saturday 23rd of November until the 5th of January. The real ice rink is set on the backdrop of Wexford Quay and the festival promises to be full of music and excitement. The kids will meet Santa and all the winterland characters while enjoying the bright and glittering lights of Christmas. 

Find out more on the website here. 

Kia Ora Mini Farm Magical Christmas Experience

Santa Claus will be returning to the Wexford Winter Wonderland in Kia Ora Mini Farm and the festive fun promises to be full of sparkle and fun with twinkling lights, illuminated light show, and feed the reindeer. There will be a ride on the fire engine with Christmas songs, Santa’s workshop and post office as well as an opportunity to post your letter in Santa’s post box. Finally, each child will be able to pick their own toy with the happy elf. 

Find out more details on their website here. 

Wicklow Christmas Market

Wicklow Christmas market is set within the Magical Abbey Grounds and you will find plenty of craft stalls to get you in the Christmas mood. The market is full of local artisan foods, decorations, and gift ideas to please eager Christmas shoppers. Santa will be on hand to please the little ones with the Santa Express visiting the Christmas market. There will be live music, Alpaca experience, street performances, craft stalls, funfair, puppet shows, gingerbread workshops, and post your letter to Santa. 

Wicklow Christmas Market opens on Nov 23rd and all dates are available on their website.

Find out all the details here.

Christmas Island – The Santa Experience

The Santa experience will include an exciting journey on The North Pole Express, a trip to Christmas Island where you’ll meet the Elves who will try to bring out your creative side and also your wild side with a bit of singing and dancing. You will then visit with the mischievous elves before you head into their new secret portal to visit the big man himself in Santa’s Grotto.

The journey begins on the The North Pole Express train and on arrival you’ll enter Santa’s largest Igloo to meet the elves, make Christmas decorations and follow the tunnels from igloo one to igloo two to mingle with the fun elves. Santa will be on hand to hear about what your child would like and they will be gifted a present to take home. 

Find out more here

Have a great time in the run up to Christmas. 

While it is only November it is important to book your company Christmas party ahead of time so you can have the best choice. The annual Christmas party is a wonderful celebration and it is a night that everyone looks forward to. The Christmas party is a chance for all teams to come together and enjoy each other’s company without worrying about work. Luckily, Wexford and Wicklow host some of the best Christmas Party Nights around so you can rest assured that there are plenty of options depending on what you are looking for. As Kinsella Estates’ understands the busy lives you lead, we have listed a few places for your company to consider so all you need to worry about is making a call!

Amber Springs, Wexford Road, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Ireland

The Amber Springs is a beautiful hotel and you will receive the warmest of welcomes and enjoy what the hotel has to offer on your Christmas party night. Minutes away from miles of sandy beaches offers a lovely opportunity to blow off the cobwebs the morning after a night of dancing. 

Christmas Party Night Package includes:

• Now Christmas with hits of the 80’s 90’s and 00’s with live band Fusion 
• Mulled wine reception
• Four course meal
• Booker goes free with groups over 20
• Accommodation packages are available

For further information check out the website here.

Seafield Hotel & Spa Resort Ballymoney, Gorey, Co. Wexford

The Seafield Hotel is a stunning hotel with its own private beach – ideal for morning walks if you have the option to stay over for your Christmas party night. 

Christmas Party Night Package includes:

• Complimentary Mulled wine drinks reception on arrival
• Late bar until 3am* (*dependent on numbers)
• Special accommodation rates available
• Tasty four course meal

Find out more here

The Arklow Bay Conference & Leisure Hotel, Sea Rd, Arklow, Co. Wicklow

Overlooking the lakeside wildlife reserve, The Arklow Bay Hotel is set on idyllic grounds and it is a nice place to relax in if you get the chance the morning after your party night. 

Christmas Party Night Package includes:

• Christmas cocktail on arrival
• Festive four course dinner
• Photo booth with Christmas props
• Live band
• Bar and DJ till late
• Special accommodation rates

To find out more check out their website here. 

Glenview Hotel & Leisure Club, Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow

The hotel is set amongst 30 acres of landscaped gardens and woodland walks which make this the perfect place to wake up to after a night of fun. 

Christmas Party Night Package includes:

• Prosecco reception
• Four course festive meal
• Live music and late DJ
• Special overnight rates

All the details are here. 

Please note: Early booking is advised 

If you don’t fancy a full-on Christmas Party Nights, there are lots of restaurants to choose from. Here are some to consider:

• Katie Daly’s Bar and Restaurant, Gorey, Co. Wexford
• Table Forty One, Gorey, Co. Wexford
• Ocean Bar & Grill, Bray, Co. Wicklow

Wherever you end up we hope you have a wonderful Christmas Party Night and enjoy the opportunity to relax, laugh and eat/drink with all the team!

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, 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 www.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

Michael Kinsella recently talked about the property market in North Wexford and South Wicklow on the Property Matters Show. You can hear the whole show here or skip to the 41 minute mark to listen to Michael’s interview. 

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, 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 www.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

Full details here.

For your FREE, no obligation, valuation in the South Wicklow and North Wexford area, 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 www.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

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       

Earlier this week, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers (IPAV) for Ireland published their ‘Residential Property Price Barometer’, which gives a breakdown of prices for two-bed apartments, three-bed semis and four-bed semis across every county in Ireland.  According to this most recent research, the cost of  an average family home in Dublin is now €527,894 – more than double that of the national average three-bed at €253,466.   Wicklow remains the most expensive area outside of Dublin, followed by Kildare and Meath.  Counties Longford, Sligo and Leitrim recorded the lowest house prices nationally.

The current average prices for County Wicklow and County Wexford are as follows:

On average, two-bed apartments in County Wicklow are coming in at €202,750, the highest apartment prices outside of Dublin by quite a significant margin.  Three-bed semis are achieving an average of €275,591, while four-bed semis are making €344,036.

Similarly, across County Wexford, two-bed apartments are achieving an average sale price of €83,334, with three-bed semis making €145,000 and the four-beds getting, on average, €171,667.

The stand-out surprise is the unexpectedly strong performance of Wicklow apartments.   Of course, we know that lack of available stock – in particular, houses –  and delays with any new stock coming to the market is still the driving force behind the rising prices.  Construction across the country, including the South East region, is nowhere near the level required at this stage.  While the industry is set to deliver up to 20,000 homes per year by 2018 (which is up from just 12,666 in 2015), this is not happening quickly enough to meet current or immediate demand within the commute region.

As we watch for the delivery of new homes, it is worth reflecting on changing buyer trends in recent years.  For example, here at Kinsella Estates, we can see that house-hunters have never been more organised, better researched or as familiar with the market as this current generation of buyers are.  They are knowledgeable and well-informed, however, their expectations of quality and energy efficiency are much higher than their predecessors and developers need to be mindful of this.

With such a dearth of new homes available, particularly here in South Wicklow and North Wexford, it makes sense for home buyers – whether they are looking for their first home, trading up or perhaps downsizing by the coast – to consider purchasing a second-hand home.

Traditionally, September has always been the height of the selling season.  Over the past decade, the market has definitely become less seasonal and more opportunistic.   The reality is that homes coming to the market locally are being presented to known buyers.  Through our offices in Carnew and in Gorey, we know buyers who have been looking for the last few months and when we visit a home to appraise it for sale, very often, we have a good idea of who the buyer is likely to be.  This can help speed up the sale process, which is good news for the seller, but more importantly, by knowing the buyer, their budget and their capacity to close the deal, we can add a greater degree of certainty at a time when sellers need it most.

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       

There is no crisis without opportunity; sometimes it can be difficult for most people to spot the opportunity but you can be sure that it exists, hidden from plain sight, just waiting to be exploited by the right person.

In fact, the ancient Greek word ‘crisis‘ also translates into ‘opportunity’. 

We saw this in the Irish property market back in 2011/2012, when foreign funds and investors started to buy up chunks of undeveloped land nationwide or entire blocks of unfinished apartments.  Our crisis opened up an opportunity for cash-rich investors who were willing to take a risk that things would improve which, of course, they did – eventually.

So, looking at the marketplace today, savvy investors will no doubt be trying to spot the hidden opportunities in our most recent crisis – our private rental sector.  Earlier this week, on foot of the latest Daft.ie report on the sector, news headlines screamed that we now have fewer available rental properties in Ireland than ever before in recorded history.  And this is not just a Dublin problem, this is happening right across the country.  Here in the South East, quality rentals, particularly houses, are at an all-time low. 

We know that the answer is to build more houses and apartments, we know that developers are trying to do just that, but here is the situation – even if developers’ funding and planning permissions are in place, it is still going to take 18 to 24 months to see any significant delivery.  In reality, it is probably going to be three to four years or more before we see completed developments released to the market in South Wicklow and North Wexford in any real scale.  This means that we are not likely to see much relief to the rental market crisis for some time yet.

If this crisis is set to continue, and it certainly looks that way for the moment, then we need investors looking to the opportunities hidden within the crisis.  We need private landlords back in the market, despite them being hit with burdensome taxes and compliance issues, we need more accommodation right now than the State can reasonably provide. 

One positive step forward is the reclamation of mortgage interest paid by landlords as a legitimate expense – this is happening slowly over successive annual budgets but at least it is happening.

While increased taxes, reduced tax reliefs, onerous RTB and legislation compliance – not to mention rising property prices and low available stock – all make one-off residential investment much less attractive than it might have been a decade ago, we know that rental returns are exceptionally strong at the moment is this is set to continue for the next few years.

Here at Kinsella Estates, we understand that investor finance is more difficult to come by and certainly, margins are much tighter than ever before; however, we also know that affordable houses and apartments can yield annual returns of up to 10%.  For a cash investor, we know that this makes sense.

At the moment we are listing a few of the last remaining homes in County Wicklow for under €100,000.  While some need some upgrading work, others are ready-to-go, high-yielding  investments. 

For example, one of our superb houses in South Wickow, 25 Coollattin Road, Carnew offers unbelievable value at €99,000 for a spacious, four-bedroom house and garden within walking distance of the town, local school and shops.

25 Coollattin Road, Carnew, County Wicklow:

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