Daft Property - Irish Property News

TODAY’S Allsop/Space auction in Dublin’s Shelbourne hotel will be an interesting test of the longevity of the mass auction and whether it’s here to stay or a mere passing fad. Savills Ireland is getting in on the act in September with the promise of around 100 investment properties. with low reserves and prime locations in Dublin. Not wanting to be left out, auction specialist Merlin Group – better known for its car auctions – announced its move into residential property earlier this week. It is getting properties from banks and says it already has 40 for its first big auction in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin in early autumn. Allsop/Space might find it hard today to match the drama and impact of their – and the country’s – first – discounted auction back in April, which saw €14.8 million worth of deals struck in just six hours on vastly discounted properties in prime locations. This time around it has 87 distressed properties around the country with reserves as low as €40,000 on...

Are these the cheapest apartments in Dublin? €159,000 price tag on these apartments in D15 set a new benchmark for starter homes in the city... CAPEL Developments is billing the one-bedroom apartments at its new Waterways scheme in Ashtown, Dublin 15, as the cheapest in the city. Priced at €159,000, the apartments in the canalside scheme are 35 per cent cheaper than when the first phase of the large development was launched by Capel back in 2005. In 2006, one-beds at the scheme were priced around €300,000, 47 per cent more expensive than today’s price. In a bid to clear overhanging stock, Capel Developments is offering deep discounts and now claims to be offering the cheapest one-bed apartments in the capital. The €159,000 one-bed units have 47–50sq m (505–543sq ft) of space. Also on sale from this weekend through Savills are 73–80sq m (790–860sq ft) two-bed apartments which are priced from €248,000. Three-bed top floor apartments have 85–105sq m (918–1,135sq ft) and are priced from €2...

Dublin council to reduce affordable house prices... DUBLIN CITY Council is to discount its total stock of affordable homes to get rid of a backlog of 300 unsold houses that are costing the council upwards of €300,000 a month in bridging loans and fees. The council is to offer further discounts of about 25 per cent on houses it had already discounted by up to 35 per cent of the original market price to compete with developers’ discounts. Developers must provide 20 per cent of any new housing estate or complex for social and affordable housing. A discounted price for the affordable units is agreed on the market price. The discount in Dublin is generally in the region of 30 – 35 per cent. The council gives the developer names of people who are eligible to buy an affordable house. If two affordable house buyers reject the house or apartment, the council is obliged to buy it from the developer at the agreed discounted price. In a rising market, this system worked well. However, now that hou...

Sign of times as Lidl eyes Habitat store... Upmarket furniture store Habitat could be replaced in the city centre by a discount supermarket. German retail giant Lidl is one of only two businesses -- the other an overseas bank -- pitching for the lease of the massive store, located off the bottom of Grafton Street on College Green. Crunch Lidl and fellow discount chain Aldi have seen a significant increase in business since the effects of the credit crunch. They have also been helped by a recent National Consumer Agency survey. The research found that a basket of 28 own-brand goods was more than 50pc cheaper in Lidl than in Tesco or Dunnes Stores. Several leases available on Grafton Street have been slow to sell because of the deterioration in consumer spending. Property adviser CB Richard Ellis has predicted that business premises on the high street will only sell when values have been cut by 50pc. Lidl is not the only big-name trader to have checked out the former Habitat store. Nearb...