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Monday 23 March 2015

UK-based buying boom in Ireland is gathering pace thanks to the strength of sterling

The UK-based buying boom in Ireland is gathering pace thanks to the strength of sterling, according to Real Estate Alliance who held a successful Irish Property Exhibition in London last weekend.
REA members were delighted with the success of the Campaign promoting the exhibition at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel and Conference Centre in central London. The campaign attracted a large volume of inquiries in advance, during and post with over 90% of whom were potential cash purchasers.
“Our agents were really pleased to talk with so many quality cash buyers over the course of the campaign and they expect those conversations to very quickly convert into sales,” said REA Chief Executive Philip Farrell.
“Many of those UK buyers have already made plans to travel to Ireland to view their potential properties.
A survey of REA members shows that enquiries from the UK have increased by 13% on average to agents outside of Dublin in the past two months.
And there has been a corresponding 25% annual increase in enquiries about Real Estate Alliance properties listed on top UK site rightmove.co.uk.
 “Conversations with attendees showed that the vast majority of them were committed to buying in Ireland, with over half of them aiming to spend between €100,000 and €200,000,” said Philip Farrell.
“The average UK home now costs €236,635 whereas in Ireland it is close to €180,000, and the strength of sterling is magnifying this.
“UK buyer interest is manifesting itself differently to the existing Irish market in a number of ways, with big surges in interest in many undervalued rural counties and also scenic and coastal locations.
“This presents many vendors with the opportunity of achieving better prices due to interest outside of the normal marketplace.
“Rural properties in the UK cost an average of €67,000 more than urban properties – quite the opposite of the Irish market.
“UK buyers are being priced out of rural properties in their own country, so for many their only chance of an ‘escape to the country’ is a move to our country.
“We are also seeing interest from UK investors who are priced out of their own market and feel that they have reached the top of their curve and are looking for capital growth and yield in Ireland.” Their partner at the event included Smart Currency http://www.smartcurrencyexchange.com/
Real Estate Alliance (REA) is Ireland’s leading property group of Chartered Surveyors with over 55 branches nationwide, comprising many of the country’s longest-established auctioneers and estate agents.

Available for interview:
Philip Farrell, CEO Real Estate Alliance
086 250 3515 / philip@realestatealliance.ie

For further information on exhibition contact:
Eimer O’Keefe, Real Estate Alliance
086 8249040 / eimer@realestatealliance.ie
Media information:

Darren Hughes, MediaConsult 086 2937037 / darren@mediaconsult.ie