Govt figures show boom in Galway house sales continues

More than €275 million worth of homes were sold in Galway during the first six months of this year, according to official figures from the State Property Price Register.

While the volume of residential properties sold in the first half of the year is up on the first half of 2018, the combined value of sales has dipped slightly.

An analysis of the official figures by the Galway City Tribune shows that in the first six months of the year, there were a total of 1,187 property transactions in Galway City and county, with a combined value of almost €276.9 million.

The volume of sales is up 6% on the 1,116 recorded in the first half of 2018, but the combined value is down around 1% from €279.8m.

For comparison, in 2010 when the Price Register came into effect, there were 427 transactions, with a combined value of €13.9m in the first half of the year – that means that in nine years, the number of transactions has almost trebled (178%), while the value of sales has jumped by 184%.

The biggest property transaction in the first half of this year 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.

The next major sale was registered at An Móinéar in Renmore at more than €3.2m – 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.

In Salthill, a development of eight apartments on Quincentennial Drive, Marine View, sold for €2.2m.

Close to Blackrock in Salthill, 4 Seamount sold for €2m. The large five-bed detached property overlooks Salthill Promenade and had been put on the market with a guide price of €1.45m.

At Cúirt na hAbhainn near the Liosban Retail Park in the city, a portfolio of 13 apartments sold for €1.645m, while 17 Caiseal Riada in Clarenbridge sold for €1.09m.

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 the first half of 2010, there were 427 sales registered in Galway, with a total value of more than €97.4m. The comparative figures the following year were down; the volume of sales was 8374 (down 12%), while the value was €164m (down 16%).

In 2012, the value of sales was down almost 18% to €67,274,569, despite an increase in volume of sales of almost 13% to 422.

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. There may also be errors in details being filed during the ‘stamping’ process.