€4 billion worth of property sold in Galway in a decade

More than €4 billion worth of homes were sold in Galway City and County over the past decade, according to the State’s official Property Price Register.

From January 2010 to December 2019, a total of 20,524 residential property transactions were registered here.

Last year alone, almost €620 million worth of homes were sold – the Property Price Register shows there was a slow-down in market activity in 2019 compared to the previous year, which saw the value of combined sales drop 3% and the volume of transactions drop more than 2%.

An analysis of official figures by the Galway City Tribune shows that up in 2019, there were a total of 2,593 property transactions in Galway City and County.

For comparison, in 2010 when the Price Register came into effect, there were 948 transactions, with a combined value of €211m – that means that in a decade, the number of transactions increased by almost 173%, while the value of sales almost trebled (up 192%).

In 2019, the total combined value of residential property sales was €619,929,382, down from €640,024,363 in 2018.

A ‘health warning’ comes with the figures in that the Property Price Register is compiled from data which is filed, for Stamp Duty purposes, with the Revenue Commissioners, and there can be delays before a transaction appears on the register.

Therefore, sales which were ‘closed’ in 2019, may not actually appear on the Register until 2020, while some late additions may be added to the 2019 Register.

The biggest single property sale of the year was a trophy Celtic Tiger home, Clarin House in Clarinbridge, at €2.2 million.

The luxury five-bed house was built in 2005 for €3m and previously failed to sell in 2012 at a price tag of €2.3m.

The 7,400 square foot house is set on 7.5 acres and boasts its own tennis court and floodlit football pitch, sports room, cinema room, bar, stables, paddock and outdoor sunken hot tub

Clarin House was also jointly the most expensive residential property sold in the last decade. Tulira Castle in Ardrahan was sold for the same price of €2.2m (the sale of land was purchased separately in that deal).

Close to Blackrock in Salthill, 4 Seamount sold for €2m. The large 1970s five-bed detached property stands on a quarter-of-an-acre and overlooks Salthill Promenade.

Seamount, Salthill: one of the biggest sales recorded on the Property Price Register in Galway last year at €2m.

Nearby, Number 13 Lioscarrig on Threadneedle Road is a five-bed detached home on around two-thirds of an acre. It sold for €1.45m.

In Clifden, the Old Rectory, which was built by town founder John Darcy in 1856, sold for €1.08m.

In total, there were 15 sales which exceeded the €1m mark – six of which were multi-unit residential sales.

The biggest property transaction in 2019 was 12 Racecourse Hill in Clifden, listed at more than €3.2m, suggesting it was a portfolio of a number of the two and three-bed houses in the estate. A portfolio of 14 homes in the estate sold in 2015 for €750,000.

A property at An Móinéar, Murrough, Renmore, in the city is listed as having sold at €3.2m – however, this is a new development of 20 homes behind the Garda HQ which is being run by the housing agency Clúid and would not represent the full open market value of the properties.

Numbers 1-6 Radharc na Gréine on the Monivea Road sold for €2.38m, while numbers 7-14 sold for €2.4m. These are also part of a social housing development.

In Salthill, a development of eight apartments, Marine View, on Quincentennial Drive, sold for €2.2m. Plans have already been lodged with Galway City Council for the demolition of the two apartment blocks and their replacement with 19 apartments specifically for short-term letting.

The cheapest property sale recorded in Galway in the first half of this year was at Tonroe, Oranmore, for €6,000.

The Property Price Register figures show that since 2010, the volume of sales being recorded in Galway – and their total value – decreased, before embarking on a significant upward trend.

In 2010, there were 948 sales registered in Galway, with a total value of almost €211.7m.

The comparative figures the following year were varied; the volume of sales was 956 (up less than 1%), while the value was €186.9m (down 11.7%).

In 2012, the value of sales was up around 4% to €194.3m and there was a 22.5% increase in the volume of sales from 956 to 1,171.

There was a subsequent massive jump in total values and volumes the following year – up 35% to 1,585 and up 27% to €248m.

Between 2013 and 2014, the volume of sales was up 53% from 1,585 to 2,428, while the total value was up 52% to €377.9m.

In 2015, there were 2,830 transactions with a total value of €477m, while in 2017, there were 2,783 transactions with a total value of €587m.

From 2017 to 2018, the volume of sales dropped from 2,783 to 2,654 (-4.6%), while the combined sales values increased by 9% from €587m to €640m.