Danescourt down by €500,000

WHEN Danescourt sells, it will be one of the best-value deals in years on its fairly posh residential row. A million euro or so, give or take, was a standard-enough market entry point for similar, mid-sized, detached homes in Cork’s Hettyfield, off the Well Road, in Douglas, a top-notch residential address down several decades.

Prices varied according to site/garden size, and one of the better houses went for €2m in the earlier half of the noughties. More than a few sold at €1m to €1.2m. When dated Danescourt went up for sale in August, 2007, it carried an AMV of €1.2m, and, in our innocence, we said that price might be on the light side, as the mature, quarter-acre site had scope for a second dwelling, or the promise of major extensions, subject to planning.

Two and a half years later, a buyer has yet to bite, but the latest price reduction could bring that situation to a close, says Jarlath Boyd, of Savills. The price was cut several times, last to €750,000, and now to €675,000, prompting a surge of spring viewing.

What with a price drop of a whopping €500,000, and savings to be made on renovation/extension costs thanks to the slump’s knock-on effect on construction, maybe this is a time for canny buyers to decide that well-located, second-hand homes must be near the bottom of the plummeting price trajectory.

To stick to facts, the circa 1950-built Danescourt has 1,600 sq ft of easily extended space, a cracking, sentinel corner site at the entrance to Hettyfield, at its Well Road junction, a garden with mature apple, chestnut, and mimosa trees, a solid-but-dated build, a garage, two out-buildings and a glasshouse cold frame. And Douglas village, with its shopping centres and services, is a five-minute walk. At €675k, it is a bit of a buyer’s plum: your call.