Time to nestle in new, A3 rated homes priced from €285k by Cork harbour bird sanctuary

Some 29 houses now released by commuter rail line in Cork's Glounthaune, from two-beds to four bedroomed detacheds

A birds' eye view of Harper's Creek, next to Harper's Island bird sanctuary

Glounthaune, Cork
€285,000-€515,000
Size	90-180 sq m
Bedrooms	2-4
Bathrooms	2/3
BER	A3

KEYS to new homes for the first buyers at Cork’s Harper’s Creek development, east of the city by Glounthaune and the commuter rail station, were handed over in June of this year as the first Covid-19 lockdown ended. 

Buyers have been cozying in for the winter and, now, a second phase of 29 units is launched, during a new phase of Stage 5 Coronavirus restraints.

Sales are already going well, says estate agent Suzanne Tyrell of Cohalan Downing, who had a pre-launch phase 2 release of a mix of house types and prices to registered inquires this past week in the c 174-home development.

A CGI image of three-bed semi-ds at Harper's Creek Phase 2

Most interest isn’t being shown in the very cheapest, the two-bed houses priced from €285,000, or even in the  affordable/standard three-bed semis of 107/110 sq m at €335,000, but in the 123 sq m ones with extension/extra family room priced about €20k over that, at €355,000, better able to accommodate growing families once children arrive.

Harper's Creek will have 174 homes in all

The scheme, being done by second-generation firm O’Mahony Developments, is just off the N25, near the Elm Tree bar/restaurant, with an important wetland habitat for migratory birds just across the road at Harper’s Island, overseen by Birdwatch Ireland and Cork County Council. 

The bird hide at Harper's Island Wetland Centre in Glounthaune, Co Cork.

It’s just across the N25 and the East Cork commuter rail line, 500 m from the station along the Midleton/Cobh route, with a new cycle/pedestrian path being created to serve this scheme.

O’Mahony’s greenfield project has a good cross-section of A3-rated house types, 11 in all with asymmetric facades on the semi-ds for visual variety, sizes and façade, in sections called the Anchorage, Inlet and Grove.

They span two-beds of 90 sq m (967 sq ft), to a four-bed detached of twice that size, 180 sq m or 1,938 sq ft, with prices from €285,000 up to €505,000, or €515,000 for an extended four-bed detached.

Construction is in masonry, with various finishes (brick/dash) and reconstituted stone for window and door surrounds, with underfloor heating at ground via air-sourced geo-thermal heating.

VERDICT: Buyers are migrating east this winter, aided and abetted by nest-feathering First Time Buyer incentives.