Ballinrobe estate sells for bargain at €325,000

Ballinrobe estate sells at bargain price of €325,000


Identity of buyer a mystery to locals

Ciara Galvin

MYSTERY still surrounds the identity of a local buyer of an entire estate in Ballinrobe. Military Close just off Creagh Road in the town sold at auction last week for €325, 000, €65,000 below the guide price of €400,000.
A spokesperson for Allsop Space property auctions [who acted on behalf of the developer] confirmed to The Mayo News last night (Monday) that the residential development was snatched up by a local buyer, but the auctioneers was unable to reveal their identity.
An initial bid of €275,000 was submitted by the local purchaser. However when that bid was refused by the auctioneer, a second bid of €325,000 ultimately sealed the deal.
Although the €325,000 bargain price-tag sees the buyer picking up each house for just over €23,000, The Mayo News understands that a further €100,000 must be paid to Mayo County Council for contributions for services.
Speculation locally over the weekend suggested that a well-known local businessman, Martin McHale of McHale Engineering, had been the mystery buyer.
However, a source close to Mr McHale told The Mayo News last night that he had not been involved in the property deal in question.
The site was bought in 2007 for €700,000 with an expectation of becoming a €3million project. The initial average price for a house was envisaged to be €200,000 in 2007 but quickly slipped to €125,000 in 2009.
The estate consists of one four-bedroom detached house, nine three-bedroom terraced houses, and four three-bedroom semi-detached houses. The detached house and two semi-detached houses in the estate are finished to showroom standard with the others requiring inside works.
The total area of the Military Close estate extends to approximately 1.89 acres, with a communal area in the middle of the development.