Hot homes from home

ONE of the effects of the booming Irish economy is not just the price people pay for their family homes, it is also the remarkable surge in values of second and holiday homes.

Cheap and cheerful chalets have been consigned to the past for many Irish families with money to splash around: second homes have become trophy additions.

Recent weeks have seen a Cahirciveen, Ring of Kerry, property sell as a second home to a Limerick buyer for around €700,000. A Glandore, West Cork, new-build is currently under offer at €860,000, and a half a million spend on an Irish weekend or holiday bolt-hole is increasingly common.