First-time buyers sweep to snap up attractively priced new homes

IT used to be ‘Build it and They Will Come,’ now it is a case of ‘Price it Right, and They’ll Come and Buy.’

The arrival after years of boom of three-bed homes priced well under €200k is welcome news to any buyers. Now, one north Cork scheme near Fermoy launches with semi-ds from €160,000. And, as an encouraging spur, an Enniscorthy Co Wexford scheme of 28 houses sold out on its launch last weekend, with prices for three-bed terraced homes from — wait for it — €159,500.

All 28 houses in phase one of new builds at An Glasán, Greenville, within a walk of Enniscorthy, have sold already, say local agents Paula Treacy Estates, mostly to mortgage-approved first-time buyers: two-beds built to a contemporary design by Anthony Neville Developments went from €146,900, with larger four-bed end terraced homes from €180,000 to €180,000.

The launch had been heavily advertised in local media “but nothing could have prepared us, considering the current climate for the sheer level of genuine interest,” said Ms Treacy. “It has become very evident that first-time buyers are in the market to buy, and obviously had been waiting for the right product at the right price,” she added.

Hoping to repeat that success is Matt Fallon of FML Auctioneers in Cork, with 25 houses at Cluain na Ri, downriver of Fermoy on the River Blackwater at Clondulane. The developer is Enda Maloney.

With three-beds priced from €160,000, he says FML calculate that first-time buyers can afford to buy from €474 net per month, on a 92% mortgage over 35 years. Houses are 1,065 sq ft, with one en suite bedroom, guest WC, gas heating, painted, fireplaces, and on average buyers will need to spend a further €10,000 or so on final options.

The €160,000 price level is one that Mr Fallon advised the builder to pitch at to ensure sales of the 25 houses, considerably lower than any other new product in the area.