Bright, smart and very well located

Those hunting for a place to settle are lining up to do bidding battle. Tommy Barker reports

There’s an immediate market response to the planned sale of Glenmallure, a superbly-set four-bed semi-d with great gardens.

The spotless mid-1900s house, with extra space grafted on to the side and back, is in Cork’s Woodleigh Park, by Highfield’s sport amenities, just off Model Farm Road, near CUH. In pure Cork terms, the location’s a box-ticker. Add to that, a back garden of 100’ in length, with distant views of playing fields, and families on the hunt for a place to put down roots will line up to do bidding battle.

In fact, they’ve already started. It’s already gone from an opening salvo of €320,000 to its asking price of €365,000.

Selling agent Barry Smith of Rose Property Services knew he had a box-ticker for a pent-up, trading-up market, but even he’s surprised at the speed of take-off. “I had one of the last Woodleigh sales about three years ago, and the market reaction was so flat. Now, this is hopping busy, I think the ‘fear factor’ of buying is gone,” he said in the week that first surveys showed some good news on house price falls possibly coming to an end — in Dublin and better locations at least. Vendors grasped news of a 0.2% increase in Dublin prices like drowning bodies to straws.

Preparing to jump ship from their home since the 1990s, the owners of Glenmallure are downsizing from thisc 1,500 sq ft four-bed, and leave it in perfect nick.

It isn’t state of the art in decor terms and rooms are close to standard for the era in terms of size, but it all feels bright and smart. For those who want super-sized family spaces, they’ll have to extend. With a 100’ long south-facing back garden, well, that’s clearly the way to go.

As it stands, its two reception rooms are linked by an arch, the kitchen/diner’s 24’ by 11’, and the converted, long and slender 23’ by 8’ garage/study/playroom could easily be used as a fifth bedroom.

Location is in the cul de sac Woodleigh, within a walk of UCC, CIT, CUH and County Hall, and it’s so quiet in this suburban, western quadrant hinterland, it almost feels rural, says Barry Smith - as he breaks the tranquillity with the arrival of yet more viewing traffic.

VERDICT: A swift summer seller.