Demand grows as Kenmare is hot property
Demand for holiday homes in Kenmare has surged since last summer. istockphoto
No viewings are possible during the lockdown and not that many properties are coming on the market but Kenmare auctioneers have been kept busy dealing with multiple buyers bidding on the few that are.
They say that demand for holiday homes in the area has surged since last summer and that properties which are either close to the sea or the town have been selling very quickly, often above the guide price.
While Kenmare has long been a magnet for foreign buyers, auctioneers report that most of the buyers these days are Irish – many buying for holidays, some for their retirement, some to live there part-time and some to work and live there permanently.
Auctioneer Majella O’Sullivan says that in the last 10 days she has seen four of her properties go sale agree – all above their asking prices. “Advertised properties are attracting immediate bids and are going within a week or two. Even in the boom, you didn’t see this kind of speed.’’ Some recently advertised properties didn’t stay long enough on the market for the to write about them. An attractive three-bed semi at 16 Finnihy Woods with a guide of €260,000 would have been included if it hadn’t gone sale agree this week. “ Just two weeks on the market, it attracted five bidders and went for well in excess of its guide,’’ reveals John Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly.
He says that demand is higher now than it was in the boom although there is a huge shortage in supply. “We are seeing a lot of demand from people downsizing in Dublin who, before the pandemic might have bought a holiday home in Spain with the extra money, but now want one in Kenmare.’’ Within a day of advertising a four-bed detached property on a ten a half-acre site near Coss Strand, Templenoe, auctioneer Tom Spillane received the first of three immediate bids – a scenario which would have been unimaginable before Covid changed the property market.
Tadhg O’Sullivan of DNG O’Sullivan has also been seeing a very high level of interest, quick sales, prices being pushed upwards as well as some international interest.
“For a property we are selling at Ardroom on the Beara Peninsula we now have bidding from the US, Germany, the UK, and the US as well as Ireland. It’s already gone 15% above its €370,000 guide price and bidding is continuing.” No new housing developments have gone up in Kenmare for several years, but Mr Sullivan is preparing to launch five new properties at The Lodge, Killowen in June.
“We have finished five three and four-bed houses which will be priced from €395,000 up to €435,000,” says Mr O’Sullivan who has plans to build another seven houses in this estate at the end of the year.
The Property Price Register shows 20 sales have taken place in Kenmare so far this year. The one high-priced property among them was Bayhouse at Feoramore West - a detached waterfront residence that sold for €690,000.
Almost half of the properties sold less than €200,000 and almost another quarter for less than €255,000, figures which give some indication of the typical prices now being paid for holiday homes in the area.
All the features you could wish for in an idyllic hideaway cottage at this renovated property at Ardea, Tuosist. It’s rural and remote with views of wild rugged countryside, nearby mountains, and Kenmare Bay in the distance. In addition to this, there’s over 1,000 sq ft of attractively renovated living space complete with the type of huge stone fireplace that no idyllic cottage should be without. That there is a large geese pond on its almost one-acre site also adds to its attractiveness.
Located 17 km from Kenmare, the two-bed cottage is on the market with Majella O’Sullivan. “It’s getting interest from both Irish international buyers — I’ve already had calls from the UK and Holland and the from an Irish couple in the Far East.’’
VERDICT: Looks picturesque and peaceful.
A neglected stone cottage on an extra-large coastal site at Loughaunacreen on the Beara Peninsula is set to attract a great deal of attention.
“This is a spectacular site of almost 12 acres with wonderful views over Kilmakilloge Harbour, Kenmare Bay, and the surrounding mountains,’ says Tadhg O’Sullivan of DNG O’Sullivan.
The stone cottage was built in the 1980s but has since fallen into disuse and is in need of complete renovation. It offers 1,244 sq ft of accommodation including a kitchen dining living room, a bathroom, a bedroom, a guest WC, a glass walkway, and a mezzanine room. Its wild and rugged hilly site has been partially planted with trees. Close to Loughaunacreen Beach, the cottage is 1.5 km from Kilmackillogue Pier and 22 from Kenmare.
VERDICT: Potentially, an amazing refuge.
A ten-and-a-half acre site with a river running through it is an unexpected extra with this scenically-located detached property at Templenoe near Kenmare.
Built by a Dutch family in the 1980s as a holiday home, it’s a spacious modern four-bed house with approximately 2,000 sq ft of living space. “It has excellent sea views at the front and is within a five-minute walk from Coss Strand and a five-mile drive from Kenmare,’’ says auctioneer Tom Spillane quoting a guide of €450,000.
The house is situated in the centre of a long, mostly wooded 10.5 acre site that stretches as far as the Ring of Kerry Road at one end and is bounded at one side by the walls of the Dromore castle estate.
Mr Spillane says the property has already attracted three bids is getting a lot of interest from families interested in relocating to Kenmare.
A scenic property with an amazingly large site.
At a time when all available properties in the area are being snapped up quickly, a bungalow with panoramic views of Kenmare Bay as well as over two acres of land is certain to attract attention.
Dunkerron View at Cappanacush dates from the 1970s and, decorated in the psychedelic colours popular at that time, is in need of complete modernisation. But John Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly expects house hunters to focus their attention on the prime 2.38-acre site and the elevated views of Kenmare Bay and its islands.
“A purchaser could renovate the existing house or possibly redevelop a site for a substantial house,” he says, quoting a guide of €225,000.
Located just over nine kilometres outside Kenmare, it’s a three-bed bungalow with almost 900 sq ft of living space.
Given the current level of demand for scenic Kenmare properties – it’s likely to sell soon.
