Is house buying market in Dublin aggressive right now?

Wavey

Hi,

I am aware of the housing/rental crisis in the country right now, but to what extent is this effecting peoples ability to buy a house in Dublin?

We are looking to buy a 3 bed semi in south Dublin. We are limited in location as 2 of 3 kids are already in a secondary school in Rathfarnham/ Dundrum area. I am trying to understand what we can afford.

Are people typically seeing bidding wars driving prices up and beyond the asking price?

Is there a pattern to this or is completely depending on the house?

Is the buying market in crisis the same way the rental market is?

Many thanks,.

Wavey.

MacronvFrugals

Expect to pay €5800 / €6300 per SQM for Dundrum for an old 1950s Semi-D with very minimal upgrades.

Rathfarnham should be cheaper as it is less desirable, there is still a mountain of demand out there.

pleh

What is your max budget?

AlpineAdventurer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502338#Comment_121502338

I'd much rather live in Rathfarnham than Dundrum!

Buddy Bubs

Stock is very low, there will be competitive bidders for everything. Price level is a function of competition and south Dublin is generally the most expensive place in the country

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058327128/is-house-buying-market-in-dublin-aggressive-right-now

I've been out of the market for nearly two years, but what others have told me, things have not improved much. My cousin and his wife are looking in and around the same area as you, and just about everything is going over the asking price by tens of thousands. Fixer-upper houses don't seem to be getting the same attention, but then buying a house and having to put another 100-200k into it isn't exactly something most people would want to do, even if they had the means.

MacronvFrugals

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502660#Comment_121502660

Dundrum is objectively more expensive for a reason in fairness.

billyhead

Parents are buying for their children now and if you don't have access to the bank of Mum and Dad you are at a disadvantage. It's really a shame what's going on.

AlpineAdventurer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502861#Comment_121502861

I wouldn't say that's true. For one, they're 5 minutes away from each other and two, it depends on the house, obviously. Dundrum is a hugely congested place to live for me. What has it got apart from a shopping centre?

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502861#Comment_121502861

What's more expensive? An apartment? a House?

Can you give examples as that doesn't tie in with my experience at all.

Wavey

Thanks for replies.

It does feeling like a bidding war is very likely. I see now on myhome.ie you can see online bids on some properties.

Some bids going 10-15% over asking price. So I need to factor this in.

I would hope to find somewhere towards Rathfarnham which I like. Looking in 350-400k region.

Not much to choose from right now.

road_high

That’s probably a low budget for that area. Can’t imagine getting anything for €350k there. Though I’m no property expert of south Dublin

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121506278#Comment_121506278

Honestly, you don't have a hope. I'm sorry to be blunt but if you need a family home for three teenage kids, 400k just isn't going to cut it in Rathfarnham, Dundrum or anywhere else in that area. You need to either increase the budget or shift your search area to the west.

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121506278#Comment_121506278

Yes that budget is far too low

road_high

I think realistically you’re looking at more tallaght or west Dublin- you could get something smaller in those desired areas but that’s not going to be enough room for your family unfortunately

road_high

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/end-of-terrace-house-54-whitechurch-way-rathfarnham-dublin-16/5504411

that looks decent but i am sure it’ll go for far more than the asking price

road_high

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/terraced-house-49-whitechurch-way-rathfarnham-d16-y2c3-dublin-16/5446613

The rest I can see online in that ballpark are all apartments, duplexes and smaller 2 bed homes

Wavey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507389#Comment_121507389

They are 2 I am basing my budget on.

Understand it is the low end for the area. But I'm not afraid of having to put some work in.

Mr Disco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121506278#Comment_121506278

Not a hope of getting anything on that budget unless you settle for unappealing rougher areas in Rathfarnham towards Nutgrove.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508042#Comment_121508042

Do you know where they are at with the bidding? That’ll give you a far better idea of what’s realistic

BlueSkyDreams

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121502660#Comment_121502660

Why?

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507381#Comment_121507381

There's no way that that house will go for 330k. That's the usual egregious nonsense of putting up a house under valued to start a bidding war.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508042#Comment_121508042

Again, I'm sorry for being blunt, but you're not being realistic. Those houses are 80 and 90 sq metres and each has only one toilet in it.

To make that a suitable house for two parents and three older children, putting in some work won't cut it, you'll need a couple of hundred grand for a sizeable extension.

Something has to give here.

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121506278#Comment_121506278

I think that if you're looking in Dublin and don't want either an apartment of a dodgy area, you need a budget of at least 500k. You can get houses for less, but they seem to always need some work.

My budget was (at an absolute maximum) 380k, so I eventually compromised and bought a house in north Wexford. If you don't necessarily need to live in Dublin but would like to be reasonably close to the city, the South East is a good option. This is why prices in towns like Arklow or Gorey are going up.

SharkMX

Lots of people have put the search on hold until after Christmas. We stopped looking in November and decided to take a break until March, then we will start looking again. We arent alone. Most people do this.

So if you can bid on anything over the next month or two you might get lucky with the competition taking a break.

Your budget though I think wont work in the area you are looking at all. Possibly in the rougher parts like whitechurch or moreen, but even then i think it night be a stretch.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508926#Comment_121508926

Yea I wouldn’t have thought so- the usual fishing bait.

What’s it likely to go for? €425-450k?

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121509827#Comment_121509827

There's not much up on the PPR for that area. Another house sold there in 2023 for 330k, but it looked to be in bad nick. The house in question here looks fine to me, though the bathroom needs to retiled. I'd say that it will end up going for closer to 400k.

spaceHopper

That was and possibly still is one of the roughest parts of Dublin. I'd be very careful buying there if I had kids.

herbalplants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121508042#Comment_121508042

Unfortunately from what I see in the last year, houses that need lots of work are not priced correctly. You kind of pay similar prices for a house that needs lots of work to one that needs no work or less complex work to it. Madness.

Gael23

Sorry OP but you need to step back and come down to reality,

Those houses within your budget will take at a minimum 150k of an extension and refurbishment to make them suitable for a family of 5

road_high

They look very liveable in to me. I shared a room with my brother in a 4 bed country bungalow in the late 80s to early 00s and the rooms were very small by today’s standards. House was basic- we didn’t have central heating for years, single glazing, no showers (just a bath) so it’s all relative- these houses to me look like palaces compared to that. Especially the 2nd one I think is very good. The main issue is getting one of them close to budget

newmember2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121509916#Comment_121509916

Really??

Gael23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511866#Comment_121511866

One bathroom for a family of 7?

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511973#Comment_121511973

I thought the OP said three teens and I’m assuming two adults.

JCN12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511866#Comment_121511866

Completely agree. The house linked above looks absolutely fine.

Seems like Irish people have quickly forgotten the lessons of 2008.

Toots

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511972#Comment_121511972

I wouldn’t say roughest in Dublin but it certainly had a dreadful reputation up to a few years ago. A friend of mine lived there when I was a kid and even he’d say it wasn’t a nice place to be. I do think it’s calmed down a bit in recent years but it’s still rough. I lived very close to it back in 2020 and Halloween was… interesting. Walked round to the shop in there and had bangers thrown at me by the local scrotes, that sort of thing.

spaceHopper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512930#Comment_121512930

You're really selling it there ;-)

GreeBo

As someone who lived their entire life relatively close, I would strongly recommend taking a drive around there after 8pm to get a feel for the area.

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121511973#Comment_121511973

I wouldn't enjoy that, but it's only something unusual in recent times. My mom group up in a house of eight with just one bathroom. What we expect from a house has been wildly inflated in recent years.

Former Former Former

I'd say the Angela's Ashes-style reminiscing for the good old days of growing up in the 1980s are less helpful to the OP than people might imagine.

Those houses are simply not suitable for the OP, unless he is likely to find upwards of 100k to extend and renovate.

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513482#Comment_121513482

I think the point might be that there are 'wants' and 'needs'.

If the OP really wants to live in that area on his budget then some of the needs are going to be re-evaluated.

I also grew up in an unextended three bed with one toilet in the 80s/90s with five of us in the house. It was absolutely fine and a far cry from Angela's Ashes.

I'd rather have done that in a nicer area than live out in the sticks in a bigger house.

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513482#Comment_121513482

Eh, once you got used to the smallpox, it wasn't too bad!

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513506#Comment_121513506

Alternatively, the OP might have looked at the cheapest houses in "Rathfarnham" and said that's what he wants to spend, so maybe he can go higher. We don't really know.

But if his kids have grown up in a larger house in a nicer part of town (and that area is neither nice nor Rathfarnham), it'll be a tough sell to them.

Apiarist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121507381#Comment_121507381

Looks nice and clean. But this house has the same size and the overall layout as mine, only mine has 2 bedrooms. The bedrooms in this house must be tiny!

SharkMX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513311#Comment_121513311

Sit in the car at the green about 50 meters from that house at night. I bet by the morning that house will be crossed off their list.

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513482#Comment_121513482

No Angela’s ashes here and as said we lived perfectly fine. I don’t believe kids “need” their own bedrooms or en suites. I only got that when I bought my own homes in the past decade. I’m pushing 40 now. Nothing wrong with sharing so long as the basics like heating, showers etc are good.

RichardAnd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513787#Comment_121513787

True, but let's be clear about something. Unless things radically change here in the next few years, "kids" will not be leaving home when they turn 18 or in their early 20s.

Roald Dahl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121513311#Comment_121513311

A lot of people say visiting the local pub on a Saturday night is a good way to get the lay of the land.

Would you advise a visit to the Furry Bog? I've heard of it, but I've never been in it myself.

Mr Disco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514103#Comment_121514103

Furry Bog ? Uuurgh sounds like an anal disease !

road_high

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121512828#Comment_121512828

I’d much rather live in a smaller house in the “right” location than one in a more suitable one but miles away and endless traffic and commutes to negotiate

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121514288#Comment_121514288

a smaller house in the “right” location 

The OP wants a family home in Rathfarnham or Dundrum.

You're suggesting he buy in the rough part of Ballyboden.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this isn't the right location for him/her.