In the last couple of weeks I have heard two stories about house buyers getting cold feet once the quote for renovations arrives. One involved a three-bed semi-D in leafy south Dublin that needed modernisation. Two buyers pulled out once they got a survey. It’s now back on the market. The other was a cottage in Kilkenny city that also needed extensive work. It was sold 30 months ago and is now back on the market for a second time at 30 per cent below its original sale price.
A sample of two may be enough to define a trend for the purposes of a newspaper column but perhaps not enough to call a definitive inflection point in the second-hand housing market. But Dublin City Council has this week lent some credence to the notion that refurbishment costs are putting a brake on second-hand house prices across the market.
The cost of renovation has been an issue for a while at the top end of the market, according to estate agents. Owen Reilly, in its end of year review, noted: “At the upper end of the south Dublin market, both activity and values plateaued, particularly for properties requiring extensive renovation, which proved increasingly difficult to sell.”
But the problem now seems to have spread to Finglas, Phibsborough, Drumcondra and Chapelizod, the North Wall and Mountjoy Square.
