Homebuyers' appetite for a sea view is boosting property values
Sun, sea, sail boats and easy living: Actors Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal are among those who have put down house roots in Cork.
Chiming with the upbeat word on seaside and waterfronting sales from east to west along the Munster coastline are agents from Waterford to the far-flung peninsulas of West Cork and Kerry.
Estate agent Colm Cleary in the distant south-west in Schull with the James Lyons O’Keeffe agency (who also opened in Skibbereen and Bantry’s next) states “we live in an outstanding part of the world,” saying that Covid had opened many people’s eyes to that fact.
Mr Cleary hit celeb headlines in the Covid period, selling to the likes of Saoirse Ronan, near Ballydehob and to fellow actor Paul Mescal near Schull, but also sells to real ‘normal people’ too.
He sees more families opting to move to live full-time by the sea: “It’s fantastic for the area, coastal property sales are still extremely strong, but the biggest problem has been a lack of stock.”
According to Mr Cleary, “2023 has proved to be another strong year for coastal sales. The demand from home and abroad has been intense at times with a lack of stock proving the most difficult obstacle to overcome.
“We have seen strong interest as always from people living in the larger cities within Ireland along with our European counterparts. This year has also seen a reassurance in the levels of purchases made by Americans due to exchange rates proving favourable.”
Across the long county of Cork, estate agent James Colbert says that East Cork “has some of the most beautiful beaches in Cork, and increasingly, a large amount of purchasers are now seeing the benefit of this.
“In the past 12 months we have seen a 30% increase on costal sales, mainly in the Aghada/Whitegate region due to its increasing popularity amongst buyers,” he observes, adding that the area especially has seen huge demand over the past two years as places like Ballycotton continue to surge pricewise.
“The pandemic has moved people more towards a healthier lifestyle and, as very accessible Aghada has a huge amount of amenities, this only added to its appeal,” Mr Colbert adds.
According to Mr Cleary, “2023 has proved to be another strong year for coastal sales. The demand from home and abroad has been intense at times with a lack of stock proving the most difficult obstacle to overcome.
“We have seen strong interest as always from people living in the larger cities within Ireland along with our European counterparts. This year has also seen a reassurance in the levels of purchases made by Americans due to exchange rates proving favourable.”
Across the long county of Cork, estate agent James Colbert says that East Cork “has some of the most beautiful beaches in Cork, and increasingly, a large amount of purchasers are now seeing the benefit of this.
“In the past 12 months we have seen a 30% increase on costal sales, mainly in the Aghada/Whitegate region due to its increasing popularity amongst buyers,” he observes, adding that the area especially has seen huge demand over the past two years as places like Ballycotton continue to surge pricewise.
“The pandemic has moved people more towards a healthier lifestyle and, as very accessible Aghada has a huge amount of amenities, this only added to its appeal,” Mr Colbert adds.
Straddling two quite different Cork markets, Cobh and Kinsale, auctioneer Johanna Murphy says that “over the last 12 months I have seen an increased interest in foreign investors coming to Ireland and especially to areas such as Kinsale and Cobh to invest, live or have a holiday home — the reason being is the quality of life, our weather believe it or not — some countries are just too hot, our culture and of course our heritage.”
“They want a piece of Ireland; we have the most beautiful scenery in the world and Ireland has so many tourist attractions, good food, arts and music …. we have it all.
Both locations are easily accessed by water, road and in the case of Cobh, rail also with a service every 25 minutes: how sustainable is that?
According to Ms Murphy: “Cork harbour is becoming an energy hub for renewable energy hence more and more companies investing, hence also needing a place to live, so demand is strong, as are prices there.”
Looking to the east, she says that Waterford with its expanding greenway “is another up and coming area, with Waterford city booming, Tramore and Ardmore are within 20 minutes, there’s a new runway for jets and, again, offshore wind farms going to be built off the south coast".
“As a country, we are doing really well and attracting plenty of interest,” she states, instancing some of the top prices being paid in the likes of Kinsale where €4m/5m+ sales are no longer uncommon (such as Oceanbreeze at Scilly sold the start of the ’23 to Nike heir Travis Knight, soon to appear on the Price Register,) as are a handful of others also set for strong headlines by year’s end.
Each year throws up a price paid that no one saw coming.
So it was in Inchydoney with case of Laguna, a 1,110 sq ft mid-1900s chalet with unobstructed views over the Blue Flag Beach a mile or so form Clonakilty on a 0.3 acre site near the hotel which came for sale in February with a €545,000 AMV with agent Con O’Neill of Sherry FitzGerald O’Neill.
He admitted at the time it was hard to value as there had been few sales of detached houses there for the past few years for comparison with.
In the event, it sold for €1.15 million, over twice the asking price, and will be demolished.
The real surprise is that every other house in Inchydoney with a sea view hasn’t a ‘For Sale’ sign up on it now.
