Homes for ultra-rich up to 75% cheaper

THEY have the country’s most exclusive addresses, but not even the trophy homes of the ultra-rich are immune to the property crash — and the price tags of some have fallen even further than regular properties.

House prices in Dublin have fallen over 50% on average since the crash, but top-end properties can be down as much as a whopping 75%.

A home formerly owned by Derek Quinlan, once one of Ireland’s richest men, near Shrewsbury Road may be bought by the Belgian Embassy, according to a report on Bloomberg, for a price of up to €2.9 million.

Mr Quinlan bought the house in 2006 for €7m and spent more refurbishing it.

A six-bedroom Edwardian house on Ireland’s most expensive street is on the market for one quarter of the price paid when it was bought six years ago.

Walford, a house on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin’s affluent embassy belt, previously sold for €58m, and is now on the market for €15m.

Thorndene, another house on Shrewsbury Road in Dublin’s Ballsbridge, is on the market for €8m, down from an asking price of €14m in 2009.

According to Wade Wise of Beirne & Wise, who has been selling high-end homes for 12 years, prime property prices rose faster than the rest of the market during the boom because there were a lot of people chasing too few properties, which gave them a spike. Given the scale of the crash, these kind of properties have fallen further.

Residential house prices in Dublin have fallen by about 51% since the peak of the property boom, according to the CSO.

But experts believe average house prices may fall as much as 70% if the Government doesn’t take action to ensure lenders provide credit for people to buy.

However, Iris Keating, an agent at Savills, still expects Walford to sell.

“There are some people who will compete to have a trophy residence here, even now,” she said.

* Additional reporting Bloomberg