74-acre Kerry farm achieves over €1m at auction
Aerial view of the 74-acre farm that sold at auction for over €1m.
Last featured in the in September, a 74-acre farm was sold last Friday at auction in Killarney, achieving a strong price, underlining the continuing demand for quality land in Kerry.
The auction took place at the Royal Hotel in Killarney, with local auctioneer Tom Spillane the man with the gavel.
Before the sale, the agent was confident about the level of interest in the property in Ballygree, Castleisland.
Although the last farm sold in this area made over €20,000 per acre, that was seen as an exceptional price, unlikely to be repeated. That said, the farm had more than enough going for it for a confident price guide “in excess of €12,000 per acre.”
The auction was well attended, according to Tom, with two locally-based bidders turning out to be the active parties involved in the auction.
“Bidding began at €700,000 (€9,500/acre),” says Tom, “and rose soon thereafter in increments of €50,000 until it reached €850,000 (€11,500/acre). Then, the bidding brought it to €870,000 (€11,800/acre).”
Four bids later, the price had reached €920,000 (€12,400/acre).
At this point, the property was withdrawn from the auction. Negotiations continued thereafter, the selling agent says, and the farm was formally sold to a local farmer for a figure believed to be in excess of €1,000,000.
Representing a price of over €14,500 per acre, the selling agent says that all parties were very pleased with the result.
