Boom to bargain? House bought for €3.3m back on market for €395k

A house bought for €3.3m in a bidding battle at the height of the property boom is back on the market for €395,000.

Situated on 2.32 acres of land on Clonminch Rd in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the five-bedroom, 4,080sq ft house was brought in 2006 by developers intent on building a 60-bed nursing home.

Property Partners Richard Cleary in Tullamore, the selling agents appointed by the receiver, Colliers International, have advertised the house for €395,000 — an 87% reduction on the sale price.

“It might seem crazy now,” said Mr Cleary, “that was just the market at the time. There were several people bidding on it… I have a great degree of sympathy with the purchasers, they were very unfortunate as through no fault of their own the entire property market turned in 2007.”

The buyers had plans to take advantage of generous tax breaks on offer for nursing home developments when they bought the house. Permission was subsequently granted for a 60-bed nursing home at the site.

However, the house has remained unoccupied for some time and “it could take in or around €100,000 to get it back up to scratch”, said Mr Cleary.

Although there is intense interest in the property, most prospective buyers are looking for a home rather than a development site, he said.

He believes the value of development land in the area has now dropped to just one 10th of its peak price. “Any sort of development land is back 90%… There was 30 acres sold outside Tullamore. It sold for €3m in 2006, and the farmer that sold it for €3m just bought it back for €300,000.”