Tag Archives: property

THE unpredictability faced by people in private rented accommodation has been illustrated by the case of an Ennis couple who were told the rent for their apartment would be increasing by an incredible 50%. Pensioners Hilari Hinnant and Greg Miller rent a one-bedroom apartment at Parnell Street and on July 11 they received a letter from a representative of their landlord, informing them the rent would be going up from €400 to €600 a month. In certain parts of the country, designated rent pressure zones, prices may only rise by a maximum of 4% per annum, but no part of Clare is included, meaning tenants here can see prices rise by any amount. The letter to the couple informing them of the rent increase stated “the new rent is not greater than the market rent, having regard to the other terms of the tenancy, and letting values of dwellings of a similar size, type and character to the dwelling that …

Property prices in Clare have risen by almost €5,000 in the first three months of the year. The latest MyHome.ie Property Report, in association with Davy, for Q1 2018 shows that the median asking price for a property in the county now stands at €175,000. This is up €5,000 or 2.9% on the level it was at, at the end of 2017. Year-on-year prices are also up by the same amount leaving asking prices back at a level they were last at in Q3 2012. Despite the increases, the asking price of a three-bed semi-detached house in the county fell slightly by 0.03% in the first quarter of this year to €149,950. Despite this minor fall, prices remain 5.2% ahead of where they were a year ago when the asking price for a three-bed semi in the county was €142,500. While the asking price of three beds remained almost unchanged, the price of four-bed semi-detached homes in Clare continued to …

MORE than €190 million was spent on property in Clare during 2017, according to property price register figures. In all, a total of €192,553,535.10 changed hands, well over €3.5m per week. Most of the money was spent in the second half of 2017, when transactions of €108.7m took place. The total for the first quarter was €42,891,537.16, while it was marginally lower at €40,686,186.90 in the second quarter. In the third quarter it was substantially higher at €50,097,538.60 and rose higher again to €58,698,606.40 in the last three months of the year. In the year as a whole, there were 1,278 transactions, giving an average value of €150,667. The first two months of the year were relatively sluggish in comparison with what was to follow, with just over €12.5m spent in the month of January and €12.23m in February. The March figure was far higher at €18.1m. April saw combined values of €9.36m but in May, the equivalent figure was …

While rents rose nationwide by an average of 11.7% in the year to September 2016, in Clare rents increased by 10.8%, according to the latest quarterly Rental Report by Ireland’s No.1 Property Website Daft.ie. This is the largest annual increase in rents ever recorded in the Daft.ie Report, which extends back to 2002. In Clare, rents were on average 10.8% higher in the third quarter of 2016 than a year previously. The average advertised rent is now €655, up 24% from their lowest point. In Dublin, the annual rate of inflation in rents, in the year to September 2016, was 12.1%, its highest late since late 2014. Rents in the capital are now 9.3% higher than their previous peak in early 2008. In Cork, rents rose by 14.4% in the year to September, a slight easing of inflation compared to earlier in the year. Rents in Galway are 10.9% higher than a year previously, while rents in Limerick have risen …

Gardaí in Ennis are continuing with their investigations into a number of burglaries in the town during the past week. At around 4am last Thursday morning, a hooded man was seeing trying the windows of houses in Ivy Hill on the Gort Road. This person was then seen inside an adjoining apartment of a house, was disturbed and fled the scene on foot. Gardai say the man wore a grey hooded top and was a small man approximately 5’2” or 5’3” in height and had a sallow complexion. On the same day , at around 1.45am, a house in Glenina on the Gort Road was entered through the patio door. Items stolen included a red “Hello Kitty” purse, a purple HP notebook and a silver Packard Bell laptop. Between 12.30am and 2.30am last Sunday, a shed was broken into which was adjoining a house in Radharc na Locha. Items stolen in the burglary included a red Marugana hedge trimmer, a green Florabest chainsaw, a yellow 300 Karcher power washer, a red strimmer and two wind deflectors from a Ford Galaxy car which was parked at the rear. Two  burglaries were also committed in the Ard Aoibhinn estate on the Limerick Road and Springfield estate, near St. Flannan’s college. A man was arrested for these crimes and is helping the Gardai with their enquiries.

RENTS in Clare went up by 7.1% in the past year. Properties in the county are now advertised for rent at an average of €591 per month, up 12% from their lowest point in 2013, according to the Daft.ie Rental Report. Rents rose nationwide by an average of 3.2% in the third quarter of 2015, the largest three-month increase since early 2007, the report states. The increase in rents comes ahead of Government measures to limit increases in rents. The national average rent between July and September was €964, compared to €882 a year previously. Annual inflation in rents now stands at 9.3% nationwide and, for the second quarter in-a-row, is being driven by trends outside the capital. In Dublin, annual inflation in rents is 8.9%, down from 15% in mid-2014, whereas outside Dublin inflation in rents stands at 9.7%, up from 5% in mid-2014. The highest rates of inflation are in the cities outside Dublin, with rents 13.5% higher …

House prices in Ennis have begun to rise again after losing more than half their value over the past seven years and may be up by 20% this year. But the number of properties for sale are falling, as the supply of houses coming to the market contracts. “We’ve seen a significant change since the beginning of August. There was a change from March or April on but from August on – particularly in Ennis – quite a lot of housing supply was snapped up and the available stock has contracted significantly. Houses are selling but the supply is just not being replaced,” said Diarmuid McMahon of Sherry FitzGerald McMahon. “There are more people buying than selling and there’s no new supply. There has been nothing built in five or six years, and that’s starting to bite,” he said. Much of the impetus for rising prices comes from the rise in confidence in the economy this year; and also from …

THE former Salesian Convent in Cahercon, which operated as a secondary school until 2002, is available for sale at a price of €1.25m. The main house has been unoccupied for ten years. Joint Agents CBRE, Dublin and Costelloe Estate Agents, Ennis have brought the 302 acre property to the market on behalf of Receiver Paul McCann, Grant Thornton. The estate, situated two kilometres from Kildysart, features planning permission for the manufacturing, storage and distribution of explosive materials. The proposed development included six single storey buildings on an overall site area of 17.4 hectares. The Cahercon estate includes a five bay, three storey Georgian residence constructed in 1790. Caheracon House was the seat of The Scott family until the 1850s. In 1920 it was purchased by the Maynooth Mission to China, who in turn sold it to the Salesians Sisters of St John Bosco in 1962. From 1962 the sisters ran a second level boarding and day school for the next …