Property price survey breaks new ground

Property price survey breaks new ground


Áine Ryan

AUCTIONEERS are still demanding property prices that exceed their likely values, despite substantial reductions of up to 50 per cent in some cases. That’s according to the findings of a new, groundbreaking survey, the ‘Mayo Property Price Survey’.
It provides detailed analysis of residential and commercial property, as well as agricultural land prices. The survey was published last week by Gerard O’Toole, of Tuohy O’Toole, in consultation with other leading auctioneers working in the county.
The first of its kind in Mayo, it aims ‘to provide reliable and impartial information for buyers, sellers and anyone interested in property’.
The survey analyses prices across the six largest towns – Castlebar, Ballina, Westport, Claremorris, Ballyhaunis and Ballinrobe –  and also projects where the market may go in the coming year.
“It is important to note that values have come down substantially in County Mayo since their peak. However, many vendors, or indeed their agents, still appear unwilling to accept the reality of the market where buyers are seeking out real value. Moreover, unless value is being offered, sales are rarely being concluded,” Gerard O’Toole said.
Commenting on the accepted fact that property prices peaked in 2006, Gerard O’Toole observes: “We have therefore had three years of a stagnating market with a lot of unsold stock. With buyers failing to secure finance and losing confidence, prices have fallen substantially, possibly as much as 40 to 50 per cent.”
Mr O’Toole concedes that NAMA (the National Asset Management Agency) ‘is a huge calculated gamble’ but, in the absence of other ‘viable alternatives’, its implementation may impel fluidity in bank lending and re-ignite the economy. 
“Possibly the most frequent question I have been asked over the last six months is ‘do you think prices will fall much further?’, or ‘are we at the bottom yet?’,” Gerard O’Toole notes.
He confesses that neither he, nor anyone else, knows when precisely the market will bottom-out, but it does seem apparent that it is close to the bottom.
“Ultimately, in the years ahead the housing market will be driven, I believe, by the fundamentals of home ownership and less about speculation and greed,” he concludes.

Housing prices
UNSURPRISINGLY, prices in tourism haven Westport continue to be among the highest for residential properties. Although new four-bedroomed bungalows in its rural environs, at €275,000, cost €25,000 more (€300,000) in the Castlebar area. Curiously, comparable rural bungalows, built over 20 years ago, priced at €230,000 are €40,000 dearer in the Westport environs.
Of course, a number of variables influence the variations in every housing category, with  scenic location a key factor in influencing certain aspects of the Westport market.  
While the average price of a two-bedroomed apartment is the same as Castlebar (€150,000), a four-bedroom detached residence in Westport is, at €300,000, a whopping €45,000 more than in the county town. A three-bedroomed terraced house, at €175,000, is €20,000 more than in Castlebar, and €35,000 more than in the north Mayo capital of Ballina.
The cheapest two-bedroomed apartments (€115,000) of the six towns surveyed are to be found in Claremorris, with Ballinrobe €5,000 more expensive (€120,000) but Ballyhaunis a significant €25,000 dearer, at €140,000.
This may well relate to a key survey finding that: “Ballyhaunis is well-positioned to emerge from the current economic downturn in a very strong position. It has a very large workforce in proportion to its population. It is strategically located on the main Dublin to Westport rail link and is just 20 minutes from the ever-expanding Ireland West Airport.”
This relatively positive prognosis is also replicated in county town, Castlebar, where it is noted that certain ‘infrastructural difficulties’ in the past now mean there is not a huge over-supply of newly built units.
Further analysis on the revealing survey in next week’s issue.