Housing market springs forward

Money is tight , but market upper-end sales are going through. Tommy Barker reports

As the c€1.8m-plus sale of East Grove House in Cork finally closed this week to a local buyer, the city’s house market also took a spring forward with 10 sites for new c.€600,000 houses booking swiftly on Maryborough Hill, Douglas.

A local East Cork/Midleton businessman with young family is reportedly the owner of East Grove House (pictured), previous owned by Lewis and Loretta Glucksman, and before that by the German Kelly family of nomadic musicians.

The 200-year old gem, on 14 waterside acres east of Cobh, went for sale a year ago, guiding €3m via agents Dominic Daly and Knight Frank, and is likely to have sold for about €1.8m all-in, after getting some international viewings. It includes a gate lodge, guest apartment, pool, and exceptional grounds facing East Ferry. Its contents are due to be auctioned on March 2 by Lynes & Lynes.

Meanwhile, 10 individual buyers came to the fore for house sites with full planning in place on Maryborough Hill, between €265,000 and €300,000 each.

The full-serviced sites of between 0.2 and 0.5 or an acre with a choice of two house types were advertised by agents Thomas J O’Driscoll & Co, and all were booked within a few days of launch last week.

Finished new homes of 3,400 sq ft up to 3,800 sq ft are all set to be built, or buyers can seek planning changes. Build costs averaging €100 per square foot will mean total costs for the new homes will be around €650,000.

Located opposite Maryborough House Hotel, the three-acre site was the focus of a heated auction bidding war in 2006, when it sold for €12m.