€13m worth of homes sold in just two weeks

More than €13.5 million worth of residential property was sold in Galway city and county in the first two weeks of February – up by almost two-thirds on the same period in 2014.

A total of 75 properties were sold during the 14-day period – up from 61 from the same fortnight last year.

An analysis of the Government’s official Property Price Register by Tribune Property shows the shows that a total of more than €13.5m worth of residential properties were sold in the city and during the two weeks – that’s up from €8.3m during the comparable period last year (up 62%).

The headline sale was the stunning seven-bed Victorian castle, Tulira Castle in Ardrahan, which was purchased by technology millionaire Niall Turley for €5.8 million, “lock, stock and barrel”.

The register records the sale price as €2.2m because it excludes the 265 acres of land and contents.

Not only was the castle itself – including the original tower from the 1500s, courtyard buildings and the Victorian castle – restored to its former glory, but the grounds are beautifully maintained.

The property is surrounded by two acres of landscaped gardens, an ornamental lake and an orchard with a ruined original greenhouse as well as a walled garden with a large stone fountain, greenhouse, pergola, herb and vegetable gardens. There are a further 265 acres of mature woodland and parkland.

Another prominent sale was a stunning, architecturally-designed detached house at St Claire’s on Taylor’s Hill – probably the city’s most expensive address.

The four-bed house had been on the market for €675,000 and sold for €659,000.

In this regular feature, Tribune Property publishes property sales figures for the city and county using data scraped from the Property Price Register, and modified to include (where available) a brief description of the property and the initial asking price.

In a small number of transactions included in the Register, the price shown does not represent the full market price of the property concerned for a variety of reasons. All such properties are marked with asterisks.

In a very small number of cases, properties may be declared as purchased in exchange for other property, stocks and shares, etc.  If the property is a new property, the price shown is exclusive of VAT at 13.5%

For the full listing of sales, including original asking prices, see this week’s Tribune