Three-bed Kenmare homes selling for €130k

THE Kerry town once voted by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top Ten places worldwide to retire has houses cheap enough that even reduced pension retirees can aspire to.

The appointment of a receiver to a Kenmare development with 40 unsold units this weekend sees some prices chopped by over 50% for finished houses and apartments.

The decision to drastically cut prices in the town was taken given the number of unsold houses in Kenmare, with its permanent population of 2,000.

Online listings of 288 available Kenmare-area houses for sale don’t even fully cover the dozens — if not hundreds — of unsold new house stock, after a decade of building frenzy. The huge surge in stock coincided with the Ring of Kerry town’s favoured Forbes rating for retirees.

Now, buyers of all ages have the choice of two-bed Kenmare apartments from just €110,000, three-bed semis from €130,000, and detached houses from €165,000 — these reasonable quality 1,350sq ft houses had originally been priced at up to €350,000. Many of what’s offered this weekend need final finishes, such as flooring choice, tiling, etc.

The sales come about after a receiver was appointed to several developments undertaken by Rick Fitzgerald, who heads up the Oran Group and who has had other businesses in recent difficulties and receiverships.

Receiver for the 40 unsold units at Glanerought, Kenmare, is Michael Cotter of Ernst and Young, and selling agents are Cohalan Downing, who will have a sales office on site tomorrow afternoon.

“Out of adversity comes opportunity,” says Malcolm Tyrell of Cohalan Downing, noting the affordability of the units for first-time buyers, retirees, investors and Kerry people living out of the county.