Property Partners

Barry Herterich

If you are lucky enough to live in Tramore or are from the town, then you’ll know why it’s such a great place to live. Tramore has grown massively in the last 40 years, from a population of less than 4,000 to around 11,000 now and the town is continuing to grow with several housing developments currently under construction, yet there is still a real shortage of houses in Tramore, both for sale and for rent.

This supply issue, like in many other areas of the country, is driving house price growth, despite two years of interest rate increases. Prices in Tramore are now above Celtic Tiger levels. For example, a standard second hand three bed semi-detached house 20-25 years old that were selling for between €280,000 and €290,000 in 2006-2007, these same houses are now selling for between €320,000 and €330,000. New ‘A’ rated 3 bed semi-detached houses are approximately €355,000. At the higher end 4/5 bed detached houses that were selling for between €420,000 and €450,000 at peak Celtic Tiger prices are now selling for between €475,000 and €500,000. Whilst the demand factors such as the ability to work from home, increased salaries, and the quality of life in Tramore have pushed prices the lack of supply has been the most significant factor driving prices in the second-hand market post Covid. During the 2005-2007 period at any one time there would be between 40 and 50 second hand houses for sale in Tramore, in the last number of years this figure has generally been below 20. Even at the height of the property boom most houses sold for close to or at their guide prices, instances of houses being bid up far in excess of their guide price were rare as buyers moved on to another house if the bidding got too high, now it’s a regular occurrence for houses to be the subject to multiple bids and houses achieving prices in excess of the guide price. This is primarily down to a lack of choice in the market.

The lack of rental properties is also contributing to this dysfunctional sales market. Gone are the days where families would have the choice of selling their home and then renting whilst they waited for a more suitable house to come on the market. Without this option homeowners who want to trade up or down have no real option but to only put their house on the market when they see something suitable but then find themselves bidding against people who are mortgage approved first time buyers or ‘cash’ buyers, neither of whom are in a chain, putting them at a distinct disadvantage which often results in them being unsuccessful with their bid with the consequence that they withdraw their property from the market. A good supply of second-hand houses leads to a greater supply as current homeowners feel more confident in being able to trade up or down thus leading to their house going on the market. Unfortunately, the opposite also applies where a lack of choices exacerbates the supply situation.