Area Focus: South Co Dublin

It has never been hard to sell the benefits of south Co Dublin but a lack of stock is hindering growth in the region.

According to an analysis of the Property Price Register by The Irish Times and MyHome.ie, sales in the south of the county have experienced rapid growth in the first six months of this year, with the level of transactions in the area up 25 per cent on the same period in 2013.

The only areas not to record growth in the first half of this year were Booterstown, Brittas, Deansgrange, Kilternan and Sallynoggin but the difference in the number of transactions between the first half of this year and the first half of last year comes to just 19 sales between those four localities.

All other areas in south Co Dublin experienced growth, with Dún Laoghaire leading the charge with a 58 per cent increase in transactions compared to the first six months of last year.

There were 93 properties sold in the seaside town between January and June of this year, compared with just 59 in the same period of last year.

Indeed, the seaside factor seems to be a big draw with notable increases recorded in Shankill (46 per cent), Dalkey (33 per cent) and Killiney (31 per cent).

More inland, Blackrock, Stillorgan, and Monkstown remained ever popular but single-digit growth suggests that a lack of available stock was holding these areas back from their true potential.

Certainly the supply issues have led to increased competition among potential buyers, with Bobby Geraghty of Hunters Estate Agents in Ballsbridge reporting one of the company’s busiest ever summers.

“August is traditionally a quiet month but this year it was anything but. Everything just seems to be selling at the moment. I’ve recently had a viewing where we had 40 people in a half an hour looking at a three-bed apartment in Ringsend.

“The market is generally starved of three-bed family homes on the southside close to schools, so when those sort of properties become available the competition is fierce,” he said.

“It’s all down to supply and demand. There is continued demand in the market at present but the supply is just not coming through and people are prepared to push for what they like and are willing to go that extra few thousand to get what they want.”

Despite the double-digit growth that the market has experienced in the last couple of years, Geraghty said he was hopeful that things would stabilise sooner rather than later.

“The problem is that nothing has been built in south Dublin in the last five years. It is estimated the area will need 20,000 new homes in the next two years but that simply won’t happen.

“We all hope that the current heat will come out of the market a bit and that it will stabilise but there’s nothing to tell us that the current trend is going to stop.

“It’s the same in the rental market and I’d personally hate to be a student at present because you would probably have to live in your car almost because of the rising rental costs.

“Seven months ago we rented out a one bed apartment in Mount St Anne’s for €1,300 a month and another in the same block has just been rented for €1,450.

“The rising prices are helping people out of negative equity but the problem for those people if they want to move is, where do they buy?”

Graham Murray of Savills agreed that a lack of available housing stock was a major issue, with the demand for three- and four-bed semi-detached houses most acute.

“The market has been very strong this year and that’s really down to a lack of supply, as well as the fact that there is a growing population and much more confidence out there.

“South Co Dublin across all areas is really strong at the minute, especially along the coast in areas such as Blackrock, Monkstown, Sandycove and even out as far as Dalkey.

“Three- and four-bed semis are what people are really looking for at the moment but there’s very little out there. As a result, whenever they come on the market it is not uncommon to have two or three bidding for them.”

Murray said the stock issues were unlikely to resolve themselves anytime soon.

“Stock traditionally increases in September and October but we’ll have to wait and see if that materialises or not this year.

“There are a few new developments planned but it will be next year before they come on the market in any great volume.

“The problem with south Co Dublin is that you don’t have large tracts of land for major development. Often houses can be built in small quantities and the larger estates will emerge in the north or west of the county.

“Project Cherry in Cherrywood will eventually help the situation but it’s still a number of years away until the houses are built there,” he said.