Dublin v Commuter belt debate

rgdrfgdf

I'm in mid 20's, only recently started my first 'proper job', and along with the girlfriend am looking to buy a place.
An small place suits us just fine as kids aint planned for quite some time.
Longterm we want to live in Dublin when the $$ eventually accumulates but for now I'd settle for a place that won't stretch us too much.
So we're probably going to buy a house outside Dublin, (here we could barely get apartment)..How is that likely to leave us in five or ten years time if we wanted to move back to Dublin?
Has anyone ever tried what i've suggested?
Just don't want to get 'trapped' outside of Dublin..Do property value increases occur in the country as they do in Dublin?
What are the pros and cons of both of my options.
Thanks

Tom Dunne

Myself and The Better Half did much the same thing, we mover further west. Ok, so we have a 5-bedroom detached house, but if we were to sell it now, we would only afford 3/4-bed semi-d in Lucan.

Even if house prices creeped up faster outside of Dublin, there is already enough of a gap in prices to ensure that when you do want to move back, you would face the prospect of moving to a smaller or more expensive place.

antoinolachtnai

I think (but you'd need to check this yourself) that there is limited appreciation for houses in the outer commuter belt over the last year or so. It looks to me extremely unlikely that this trend will reverse. There is a lot of building land in the outer commuter area.

Once you move out of the city, there is a possibility that you will break a lot of the friendships and ties you have in the city. Think of this too.

I don't know you or your circumstances, but if I were you, I would give serious consideration to the possibility of buying something very small in the city. Take into account the cost and time for commuting too, if you work in town.

nlgbbbblth

Myself and my wife decided to move out of Dublin to Newbridge in 2003 as we were severly restricted in what we could afford housewise in the city.

We bought a four bed semi-detached house here which has increased in value from €265k to €330k in the space of two years. One possible reason is the Whitewater shopping centre which, when it opens next April, will be the biggest of its kind outside Dublin.

At the time I was working in Blackrock and commuted from Newbridge for 12 months. This was difficult (train, bus and DART each way) but eventually I got a transfer to Naas (work in banking) which is great.

I do miss Dublin and my friends there but it's only 35 mins or so away on the train and I get in every couple of weeks.

Tom Dunne

Actually, it is interesting that you mention commuting. I think this is a serious consideration.

I was coming back from the airport on Friday last at 6:00am. Even at that time there was a stream of traffic coming from the west, heading for Dublin. I couldn't believe it. I would assume these people are facing the prospect of a 2 hour commute each way every day. I do it once a week at rush hour and it nearly kills me.

So don't just think about house prices, think about commute times, quality of life and friends too.