Over 74% of
estate agents have seen an increase in enquiries from the UK over the past
year, a nationwide Brexit property survey carried out by the Real Estate
Alliance group has found.
30% of all enquiries
from UK buyers are now directly related to Brexit – up 13% on the previous
survey carried out six months ago – with 14% of subsequent sales directly due
to jobs moving to Ireland.
Agents
reported that almost 60% of enquiries were from buyers in London or the South
East of England – up from 40% six months ago, and indicative of a shifting jobs
market.
And while
cross-border residential activity in Border counties and holiday home sales are
down, the number of agents reporting a decrease in enquiries has fallen from
21% to 7% in six months.
Overall enquiries
are up by an average of 23% among those experiencing an uplift, while those
reporting a decrease are seeing calls down by 20%.
Sales to UK
buyers have increased by 12% on average over the past year, according to the
REA survey.
“UK buyers
make up 10% of overall enquiries and 6% of sales in the Irish market, with our agents
reporting an average of 4.3 sales to UK buyers last year,” said REA
spokesperson Barry McDonald.
“30% of
enquiries to REA agents cite Brexit as a direct reason for clients moving to
Ireland while 21% are coming to live and work in Ireland for reasons unrelated
to Brexit.
“Of those, 15%
intend to commute to work in the UK, 27% will be working from home for UK
companies and 58% will now be working in Ireland – the latter figure an
increase of 12% on the previous survey.”
The survey
also shows that 23% are buying for eventual or immediate retirement, 8% are
investors, 8% are looking for a change in lifestyle, and 9% are purchasing
holiday homes – a market that has been hit by the fall in sterling value and
remains unchanged over the past six months.
The typical
UK buyer is looking for a rural property (54%) with 66% of people looking for a
standalone development.
The biggest
percentage of sales to UK buyers (22%) is in the over €500k category, while the
average at all €50k stages above the average house price in the State (€236,287)
is between 15-17% with 16% between €300k-€500k (down 6% from the previous
survey).
“25% of UK
buyers now have no connection with Ireland, which would be a change in
historical patterns of enquiries and sales,” said McDonald.
Over 7,000 UK property buyers are being
offered the chance to view thousands of Irish properties, and to talk to the
people selling them, when REA exhibit at the UK Property Investor Show on April
12-13 at ExCel London.
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.
For more information listing properties for
the UK Property Investor Show see realestatealliance.ie/overseas.
Ends
