Royal record for West Cork castle

A holiday home of former billionaire Sir Antony O'Reilly was the largest one off property transaction recorded in Cork last year, it came to light this week.

Kilfinnan Castle in Glandore sold for €5.732 million in February to a couple with local and international roots via Skibbereen-based agent Charles P McCarthy.

While there were bigger transactions recorded in the county for developments, such as the sale the Leeside Apartments for €20 million, The Chestnut development on the Douglas Road for €15.5 million and others at Harty’s Quay in Rochestown and Templegrove in Douglas for €14.334m and €8.46m respectively, this was the largest sale recorded for a single property.

Other large one-off sales included Cuan Bán on the Colla Road in Schull which sold via West Cork Property Ltd for €2.1 million in April, a bungalow at Rooska, Ardbrack, Kinsale, which sold for €2 million in February and a six bed home at Coraville in Blackrock, which sold for €1.825 million in May.

In total, including developments, there were 37 transactions recorded in Cork last year for €1 million or more.

The data was compiled from the Property Price Register and analysed by property website MyHome.ie.

Angela Keegan, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, said that the national analysis confirmed a trend of significant activity in commuter counties.

She added: “We knew from our analysis of the Property Price Register for the first half of 2019 that activity in commuter counties was sharply rising, and our analysis this time round proves that this trend continued throughout the year.

“The affordability of properties in the counties around Dublin is proving to be extremely popular especially with first-time buyers who are constrained due to the Central Bank’s mortgage lending rules. It is good to see new building starts in these counties have also continued, bringing more homes on the market where they are badly needed.”