Ocean Living: Remote working adds to coastal property appeal
A chalet called Laguna, near the hotel and beach on Inchydoney Island, was a summer startler when it sold this year for site value, for twice its €545,000 AMV to fetch €1.15m.
Irish home hunters are giving buyers from overseas more than a run for their money when it comes to precious coastal properties. But, as ever, the line-up of where the buyers come from continues to shift, like the tides and the winds.
American buyers were strong at the upper end of the price scale a year or two ago, driven in the main by the strength of the dollar, but are not quite so much in evidence or as bullish as they were in 2022, reckons estate agent Maeve McCarthy of Skibbereen agency Charles P McCarthy, who says the coastal market is still quite strong post-covid, and adds that climate change fears are also, increasingly driving overseas inquires in her experience.
Despite some individual sales making spectacular and wholly unexpected prices, in some noted ‘hot-spots, primarily, the Munster coastal market isn’t all a rising tide: in fact a welcome note of realism has crept in once more, as many market observers see and as ‘For Sale’ signs stay in place for much longer than heretofore.
The rush of panic, pandemic purchases has waned: pricing is once again key to getting momentum, as is the hoary old line about ‘managing vendors’ expectations (ie, ‘don’t be greedy.’) “Houses are selling, but it’s taking time to get them over the line,” Mc McCarthy she says, advising sellers to have all their paperwork in order ever before going to market so as not to lose momentum when interest is shows and bids start to come in.
“Americans are not as evident as 12 months ago, and UK buyers are slack, nothing like they were in previous years: it’s Irish buyers who are driving the market most at present,” Ms McCarthy observes.
Those native Irish are buying both for second-home and permanent home uses, she says, and the lines are more blurred between these categories than before, thanks to more flexible work practices since the pandemic push to work from home…wherever ‘home’ turns out to be, a moveable feast in many ways, once it has broadband.
She instances inquiries from ‘flexible’ employees whose companies will allow them work from a home by the sea from August to December each year and notes how working from home on Mondays and Fridays each week is also increasingly the norm “which is very attractive,” and thus many have the option to be remote working for well over half the work days in the year.
With many parts within 60-90 minutes by car from Cork city and airport “that makes West Cork very attractive,” while access to airports in Shannon, Kerry and Waterford also help underpin similar arrangements in neighboring Munster counties.
Houses might have a set value based on build costs per square foot, but then, hey, add water and the ratchet effect starts.
A mere water glimpse or ‘distant sea view’ might add 10% to a property’s base value. Proximity to water adds 20%, or more.
Add waterfrontage? Double, or treble, or multiples again in terms of values if you add in extra land, and privacy, another holy grail.
An island? Name your price.
Head of Clonakilty estate agency Hodnett Forde, Andy Donoghue also sees a mix of inquiries across their wide spectrum, from land and sites to high-end homes and everything in between.
“Coastal properties continue to perform strongly with a steady mixture of both national and over-seas buyers doing the business with us here in West Cork,” he says, instancing a C3-rated €850,000 ‘Rolls Royce’ quality build property at Farrangark, near Kilbrittain, being sold for UK-based owners with views spanning the Old Head of Kinsale to Courtmacsheery, with a large garage on its acre and says it should have a wide appeal.
“With interest rates tightening and the cost of building/renovating where it is, we are seeing more notice being taken of properties with higher energy ratings than ever before,” Mr Donoghue says.
“Based on this, we are advising our clients to take the time to carry out the practical upgrades where possible so as to enhance their property’s value and appeal before going to market.” “’Location, location, location’ remains number one, though, and so if a listing is priced and presented right, coastal properties can fly it,” he enthuses and praises “the effort made by the Tidy Towns committees throughout our region in keeping each and every town and village pristine. It has placed us up at the top of the lists as the most desirable locations to live in the country: long may that last.”
