O’Donnellan & Joyce reports that 2017 was the company's most successful year to date, regarding the volume of sales since it opened in 1982. The Galway city centre estate agent reports that it sold close to 650 residential and commercial properties in 2017 by private treaty and public auction.
Colm O’Donnellan, one of the principal partners of O’Donnellan & Joyce, said: “Prices are still about 35 per cent below the peak of the market of 2007 and the number of transactions recorded in 2016 is well in excess of anything recorded since the slump, and in fact is the highest volume since we opened our office 35 years ago.”
He added: “The reason for the increase in volume of sales is a combination of banks having returned to lending, particularly to first time buyers and to home owners and cash customers who were out in force as there was little or no return being achieved leaving money on deposit. In addition, there was a lot of funds and private individuals deleveraging and placing investment properties into the auction rooms.”
According to the latest Daft.ie house price report, there were fewer than 4,000 properties for sale in Connacht and Ulster in December 2017, the lowest since January 2007. Because of the continuing demand for housing and the lack of adequate supply, asking prices in Galway city rose by approximately 16.3 per cent, with the average asking price of a property increasing to €265,238 in the year. Galway county had a reported increase of 17.6 per cent with an average asking price of €174,443.
In addition, 2017 continued to see a large number of cash buyers looking to invest in property in prime areas of Galway city with good rental income as strong demand persists for residential properties to rent.
Mary Fahy, Shane McDonagh, Siobhra Hennessy, and Hugh O’Donnellan, who co-ordinate the O’Donnellan & Joyce series of Wild Atlantic Way property auctions, said they recorded a 39 per cent increase in the volume of properties going under the auction hammer. Sales by public auction with O’Donnellan & Joyce included properties from Donegal to Kerry and all along the Wild Atlantic Way. In 2017 they placed 440 properties under the auction hammer over a series of seven auctions held throughout the year and reported a 78 per cent sales success rate. Crowded attendances were recorded at the auctions which were streamed live online on www.odonnjoyce.com/auction by Brandt Studios to a worldwide audience. The auctions attracted a large number of overseas buyers, of whom most were investors. O’Donnellan & Joyce’s auctions are not only the largest in the west of Ireland but are the largest live auctions in the country.
Outside Galway city in the rural areas, there was exceptional value on offer with many of the properties sold for well below building costs. A number of the highlights of the O’Donnellan & Joyce auctions were:
No 36 Maunsells Road, Taylor's Hill, Galway – a four bed detached house sold for €650,000.
No 18 Lower Newcastle, Galway – a three bed semidetached sold for €432,000.
No 2 Crescent Green, Galway city centre – a two bed apartment sold for €316,000.
No 38 Rahoon Road, Shantalla, Galway – a four bed semidetached sold for €335,000.
No 1 Ballinfoyle Mews, Headford Road, Galway – a four bed detached sold for €320,000.
No 1 Larchfield Avenue, Renmore, Galway – a two bed semidetached sold for €320,000.
No 4 New Dock Street, Galway city centre – a three bed terraced sold for €265,000.
Rosewood, Rockbarton North, Salthill, Galway – a five bed detached house sold for €1,550,000.
Some of the higher profile commercial sales in 2017 included:
Combination Units 1, 5 and 6 An Coirneal, Seapoint, Barna, Galway – sold for €475,000.
Churchfields, Lower Salthill, Salthill, Galway – sold for €980,000.
No 2 St Augustine Street, Galway city centre – sold for €470,000.
Market Square, Gort, Galway – sold for €170,000.
Seapoint, Barna, Galway – sold for €190,000.
There was incredible value in the auction room for properties outside Galway and being sold well below building costs:
No 6 Carbry Coast, Tullaghan, Co Leitrim – a two bed apartment sold for €35,000.
No 38 Tower Hills, Ballymote, Sligo – a four bed semidetached sold for €43,000.
No 25 Greenfields, Convoy, Co Donegal – a three bed semidetached sold for €66,500.
Bungalow at Keevagh, Quin Road, Ennis, Co Clare – sold for €160,000.
Investment property at Quinville South, Quin, Co Clare – sold for €265,000.
O’Donnellan & Joyce valuation services continues to provide an exclusive professional service recognised by all financial institutions. As a result of major financial and bank restructuring, ‘Red Book’ valuations are now required to be completed by fully qualified professional valuers. O’Donnellan & Joyce valuation department is currently headed by Tony Joyce who has 35 years’ experience in this field.
Niall Browne and Alan McKenna of O’Donnellan & Joyce private treaty sales department recorded 240 sales in 2017 and results included the following properties:
Detached house at Rockbarton, Galway – sold for €1.6 million.
Detached house at Grattan Park, Salthill, Galway – sold for €1 million.
Pollnarooma West, Salthill, Galway – five bed detached house.
Detached house at Rockbarton Park, Galway – sold for €720,000.
No 33 Dun Na Carraige, Salthill, Galway – a four bed detached house sold for €680,000.
Kingston Road, Galway – a three bed detached bungalow sold for €535,000.
No 115 An Creagan, Barna, Galway – a four bed detached sold for €510,000.
No 28 Colmcille Road, Shantalla. Galway - a two bed terraced house sold for €170,000.
No 142 Dun Na Carraige, Blackrock, Salthill, Galway - a three bed terraced house sold for €478,000.
Burkeway Construction led the way for new homes sales in 2017. Forty houses were launched and sold in phases 3 and 4 of its new development at An Maoilin, Ballymoneen Road, Galway. This development comprises three and four bed semidetached homes, with phase 5 set to launch 29 units for sale in February/March 2018. There is an enormous demand for new homes and Burkeway Construction will be launching exciting new developments in 2018.
O’Malley Construction followed suit with the launch of Reilean at Roscam on the east side of Galway. The development comprises three and four bed homes which range in size from 1,292sq ft to 1,473sq ft, with prices from €285,000 to €330,000. The first houses are expected to be ready for occupancy in spring 2018.
O’Donnellan & Joyce is looking forward to 2018 as the company expands even further and looks to further increase the volume of sales. If you are considering selling your property in 2018, contact O’Donnellan & Joyce on 091 564212 for a free valuation. The next auction will take place on Thursday March 1.
