Trading up: Ballincollig, Cork €380,000

Size: 184 sq m (1,980 sq ft)

Only a few weeks on the market, and bids on No 5 The Meadows in Classes Lake have gone over the asking price, with interest in the main from older first-time buyers, who now want to purchase as the market is in apparent recovery mode.

No 5 is already at €400,000, and it’s not hard to see why — the recently added rear extension lifts it into a higher plane. The owners bought here just west of Ballincollig about eight years ago, overlooking the rugby club, and they completed a quality rear extension a year ago. The building experience didn’t put them off, as they are now set to build a one-off home, hence this sale via Niamh Moloney of Sherry FitzGerald. At an open viewing, she had ten parties through it, nine of them cash/mortgage-approved buyers.

The detached, two-storey four-bed has a 23’ by 12’ sun room by a private back garden, leading onto the revamped 10’ by 17’ kitchen, with breakfast bar divide to a back dining room. The bright 250 sq ft extension links to the calm, simple kitchen, with glazing on two sides, all in aluclad frames, less chunky (and considerably dearer) than PVC alternatives. There’s plenty of other accommodation, with two linked reception rooms to the left of the hall, and a study to the front/right, plus a guest WC. Upstairs No 5’s got the original layout still, with four bedroom, one en suite, and main family bathroom.

VERDICT: Will sell quickly.