Jump in sales sees workers back on building sites

Date Published: 13-May-2010

BY ENDA CUNNINGHAM

Construction workers have gone back on site at two city residential developments, after a local development company took deposits on almost 30 new homes at a ‘price drop’ event.

And the developers expect to sell another 50 homes within the next year, after introducing a new ‘build to order’ policy.

According to the company, the property market in Galway City has “turned a corner”, after they slashed their house prices by up to €145,000 in an effort to offload unsold stock.

There is also anecdotal evidence that buyers have been saving hard to put together deposits for their homes – some are now sitting on ‘nest eggs’ of up to €70,000.

O’Malley Construction went ‘sale agreed’ last weekend on 27 houses and apartments at their developments in Knocknacarra and Roscam and are continuing to take enquiries on a number of unsold units. They have also taken names on a waiting list for two particular house types.

Around 25 workers are now back on site at the two estates, to finish out the already-built properties, and the company has predicted a further 50 sales in the coming year.

The company has introduced a new ‘build to order’ policy, and expect to sell a further 15 properties by Christmas and up to a total of 50 properties in the coming year.

The return to work sees around 25 new jobs created on the city sites for sub-contractors to finish out the newly-sold houses.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.