With activity now switching from the second-hand residential market to new homes, a number of expensive schemes due to be launched in the coming weeks will test the strength of this sector.
An unusual "infill" scheme at 150 Howth Road in Clontarf, Dublin 3, which goes for sale today, includes 13 houses ranging in price from £345,000 to £795,000 (438,059-1m). Sales are to be handled by Eoin O'Neill of the Ross McParland agency.
Location - only three minutes' walk from Killester DART Station - will be a strong selling point for the development which has already been completed by the MKN Property Group, a family-owned firm run by businessman Sean McKeon and his sons Brian and John. The overall scheme also includes 84 apartments for rental which are being retained by the group as a long-term investment.
There are three distinct house types for sale: three-storey, four-bedroom period-style houses costing from £775,000 to £795,000 984,047-£1m); three-bedroom courtyard houses priced from £365,000 to £395,000 (463,454-501,546), and three-bedroom townhouses varying from £345,000 to £365,000 (438,059-463,454).
Even in today's uncertain property market, an early sellout at Howth Road seems probable because there are only four of the three-storey houses available along with three courtyard homes and six townhouses. They are among the best finished new homes to go on the market in recent years.
The three-storey, 2,150 sq ft homes at the front of the site blend in with many of the adjoining period houses with large front gardens and huge living spaces.
Like many period houses, there are granite steps up to the front door and separate steps down to a door at garden level. Here there is a kitchen/breakfastroom with well-finished maple wall and floor units, polished granite worktops and a cleverly planned integrated press holding a washing machine and dryer as well as providing storage space.
An entire range of electrical appliances comes with the kitchen, together with a flue which will give families the option of installing an Aga or solid fuel cooker rather than the standard gas cooker.
Behind the kitchen there is an extremely comfortable family room with two double doors opening on to a wooden deck and back garden. The two-storey wall at the bottom of the garden is the boundary wall of the courtyard houses.
Upstairs, the three-storey houses have excellent reception rooms for entertaining and 11 ft high ceilings. There is a handsome hall opening into the drawingroom. Large bay windows look out over the front gardens and the room is interlinked by double doors into a spacious diningroom.
The drawingroom has a large marble fireplace and, in keeping with the period style fit out, has mahogany panelled doors, radiator covers, decorative plaster cornices and ceiling roses. At the end of the reception hall there is a room which could be used either as study or single bedroom. There are three further bedrooms on the upper floor, two of them particularly large with en suite bathrooms.
Architects O'Mahony Pike, who handled the scheme, displayed great ingenuity in designing the 1,300 sq ft courtyard houses, all of them single aspect yet full of light and atmosphere. The first surprise is that the front door opens directly into a "dining hall," a terrific room which doubles as a reception area.
Off it is a handy kitchen fitted with electrical appliances and maple wall and floor units. The dining area also opens into a huge livingroom with oak fireplace and fitted gas fire and full-length windows overlooking the garden and its wooden deck.
The two bedrooms on the upper floor have en suite bathrooms with overhead Velux windows. The third bedroom on the ground floor also comes with an en suite.
The three-bedroom, 1,100 sq ft townhouses are also fitted out to a high specification. There is an unusually large hall with the first door opening into the kitchen/breakfastroom. The combined livingroom and diningroom at the back has full length windows and a door opening on to a wooden deck.
