Limeworth leads way with five sales in five months

FIVE sales in five months has seen the Limeworth estate at Ballincollig buck the regional trend.

And according to Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald three properties in this low-scale estate sold before Christmas, with two more sales agreed in the last month.

Pure fluke or a positive trend?

The Limeworth houses are upper-end, trading up properties and as such, fall into a slim category in today’s market.

At sale prices of between €750,000 to €800,000, (back to the levels they sold at in 2004), the profile of buyers for the estate falls into the stringent lending criteria of cash-strapped banks – urban professionals with a good chunk of equity and unassailable job security.

According to Norma FitzGerald, there’s a shortage of mid-to-upper level homes in the Ballincollig area, as most vendors bide their time in an unsteady market.

Ballincollig, and in particular, Limeworth, has become a high demand location since the development of the new town centre and the bypass route, she adds.

“Limeworth is a nice, small development with well-built, detached houses accessible to colleges, bypass and airport.

“Ballincollig has absolutely everything on the doorstep and it’s on a great side of the city and people love living here and want to trade up in the area. We want to show people that there’s movement out there – there are green shoots and let’s move on it.

“There are loads of people sitting on the fence and are just that little bit nervous. “What these sales show is that people see it’s definitely a good time to start buying and if it’s going to be the family home, they’ll go for it – so it’s also a good time to sell.”

The purchaser-profile in Limeworth was comprised entirely of trader-uppers, she says, most of whom had sold their own homes, or had relocated.

Five sales in five months at the upper end of the market is something to crow about, but Ms Healy sees this vote of confidence as something that can be worked on: “We need to start helping each other and look at new opportunities this year. “We’re seeing competitive bidding again and there’s a bit of activity. And doesn’t it help everybody? We all need to be a bit more positive.”

Amen.