THE most expensive property sold in County Clare last year was also the most expensive outside of Dublin, the latest Property Price Register (PPR) has revealed. It was a student accommodation complex, Thomond Village, in the University of Limerick, which sold for €33 million.
The most expensive house was Quinville Abbey in Quin, which sold for €1.4 million, while Suite 7 at Donald Trump’s Doonbeg Golf Club, which sold for €675,000 made the top five.
At the other end of the scale, the cheapest houses sold in Clare was The Old Post Office, Cullenagh, Labasheeda, which sold for €6,000. Three other properties in Kilrush, Carron and Cooraclare sold for €10,000.
Countrywide, the level of property transactions fell by 3.5% in 2016 to 47,175 according to an analysis of the Property Price Register carried out by the property website MyHome.ie. However, while the level of transactions may have fallen, the total value of property transactions actually increased by 7.4% to over €11.5bn.
In Clare the volume of sales fell by 6% – 1,189 in 2015 compared to 1,117 in 2016 – but the value of sales increased by 27.5%, the biggest increase in the country.
The PPR shows that total sales in 2015 were €148m, but in 2016 the figure jumped to €188m. The managing director of MyHome.ie, Angela Keegan said the figures reflected the two main trends in the Irish property market, namely lack of supply and rising prices.
In fact, sales were up in only six counties with Sligo recording a 12% increase and Waterford up almost 11%. Other positive movers were Laois (5.7%), Offaly (3.3%) Monaghan (4%) and Tipperary (1%).
Ms Keegan said while the stability seen in Clare was positive, the general decline in the number of transactions was an ongoing concern.
“While the news is relatively positive for Clare, Tipperary and other counties such as Sligo, Waterford and the midlands, the fact remains that the number of sales has declined in the vast majority of counties.
Galway is down nearly 13%, Kilkenny is down 12% and Mayo is down 11%. It’s the same in Limerick which is down over 9% while Donegal is down 8%.”
“We have approximately two million properties in Ireland and in a normal market around 4% or 80,000 of these would be changing hands each year. As this analysis shows we are a long way short of that.
“At the moment there are 18,900 residential properties for sale on MyHome.ie, this is 12% down on this time last year when there were 21,410 properties for sale. Clearly it is going to take some for the property market to return to equilibrium” Ms Keegan said.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.