Property Market Update – 2014 so far
The spring is hardly underway, at least as far as the recent weather is concerned, but already we hear reports from various quarters that the property market is taking off. Well talk is cheap, but it might be useful to examine the facts on the ground to get a true picture of the market in the local area.
Last year saw an increase in sales over the preceding year generally. It is early days to establish the trend in 2014, but nonetheless we can gain some idea from the number of sales recorded to date. The like for like comparison for first six weeks of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013 shows an increase from 23 residential sales to 34 in the entire county Carlow. It is very early in the year to draw conclusions from this, but it is very encouraging and if activity continues in the same vein, I would expect that 2014 will be a substantially better year for residential property than 2013, which was an improvement on 2012. Again the main activity is in the range of €150,000 and below with very few sales above the magic €150,000 limit at the moment.
From speaking with the main banks, they are also expecting more activity in 2014, with targets for the year increasing between 20-30%. Whilst targets may sometimes be optimistic, I take this as a further sign that the market will be more active in 2014. This is good news for all concerned, especially sellers who need to sell. It looks as if the number of buyers with funds is set to increase this year. That being said, a fair amount of effort is required to get a mortgage at the moment, but with the economy improving generally, this should also become a little easier in the future.
Eoin Kehoe is the owner of Kehoe Auctioneers based in Carlow town (059) 9131678.