Keen buyer interest in quality new homes
Beautiful new homes at Ard na Sailí, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, available as 2-bedroom, 2-storey residences to 4-bedroom, 3-storey dwellings.
A half a dozen new homes developments currently being marketed in the eastern half of Cork county and in the city by one agency alone gives an interesting cross-section of where market activity, prices and trends are at present.
So say mother and daughter auctioneering team, Adrianna Hegarty and Niamh Hegarty of Hegarty Properties based in Midleton and who’ve also just taken on a c.20-house niche scheme in the city’s Silversprings.
Niamh reckons: “We currently have six new-home developments across East Cork and Cork City, and between them they capture almost every trend shaping the new-build market right now.”
Two of the six are coastal and are detached housers: the upmarket Ocean Drive in Ballycotton, and Garrvoe’s Beach Field.
Another’s a village scheme, Bruach Abhainn in Mogeely, and the remaining three are in commuter towns: they span Water Rock Manor in Midleton in an area of considerable new home supply, with prices at €360,000 for two-beds, three beds starting at €435,000 up to €495,000, four beds are from €545,000 and detached four-beds at €690,000.
At Ard na Sailí in Carrigtwohill two-beds are at €395,000, three beds at €450,000 and four-bed detacheds at €580,000.
And, due to launch soon is Glenmont Crest at Silversprings, high above the city and with c 20 houses in all, at prices from c €500,000 to well over €800,000.
On the buyer profile across this diverse range, “we are seeing the full spectrum. Single buyers are a growing cohort, typically buying two-bed homes under €400,000. First-time buyers remain central,” says Niamh, adding “then there are upsizers and ‘right-sizers’" — people who already own and are moving to a home that better fits a growing family; they love new builds for the A-rating, the builder's and air-to-water system warranties, and modern finishes like underfloor heating, and for the freedom from the maintenance surprises that come with older stock.”
Affordability is reshaping where and what people buy.
Mogeely is a good example, says the Hegarty Properties duo, saying a scheme like Bruach Abhainn here “is performing well precisely because you can still buy a three-bed semi-detached there for around €440,000, keeping it within First Home Scheme reach.”
Four-bed detacheds at Bruach Abhainn start at €590,000 and “it's ten minutes from Midleton, 15 minutes from Youghal, and is close to the coast and to villages like Killeagh. Areas like that still have room to grow, which is exactly why the affordability is still there.”
“Downsizers are a clearly increasing category too — often wanting to be nearer transport links, and after a lock-up-and-leave home they can leave for winter months in Spain without worrying about damp or the upkeep an older property demands,” say Adrianna and Niamh.
“It is a market where demand is broad and delivery is finally responding: first-time-buyer mortgage drawdowns are at a 20-year high, and Cork new-home completions rose 54% year on year in early 2026.
“On the east Cork coast, the driver is lifestyle. Garryvoe’s Beach Field scheme of ten c 2,000 sq ft four-bed detacheds sold out within three weeks at prices from €595,000 to €650,000 “to a mix of right-sizers, upsizers and first-home movers coming out of more urban areas, every one of them drawn by the lifestyle: the beach, the schools, the simplicity and the superior build standard,” the agents reveal.
Even more upmarket is the near sold-out Ocean Drive in Ballycotton – “a fascinating case” where a few breached the €1m mark according to the Price Register, with others having started at €800,000, with just one left at the price.
According to Hegarty Properties a large share of buyers in this Ballycotton game shifter are based in the UK and the US “and they are future-proofing. US-based buyers in particular are purchasing now as a holiday home, with a view to eventually moving back to Ireland and making it their base.
“The political climate in the United States is clearly driving it, with people looking to move money out of the US and invest in Ireland; we are hearing much the same from UK buyers, where softening house prices at home make the still-robust Irish market look attractive. That is coming directly from the buyers themselves,” add the selling duo.
