Estate Agents in Bantry – Developing Patterns
The number of estate agents in Bantry has been increasing over the last 3 decades or so. Back in the 1970’s, there were just 2: O’Leary & Co. (who were at one stage the only show in town) and Key Properties. Now, there are many more, with 2 new ones coming on the scene in the last 12 months. Key are still there, although O’Leary & Co. closed up shop in about the year 2001.
In Ireland, people normally use the word “auctioneer” instead of “estate agent” normally, but either word will do.
As regards activity patterns, there was a time (and not long ago) when there were more-or-less clearly identifiable times of the year when it was busy and times when it was quiet on the property market. It was the case that the months of April, May and June were probably the busiest months of the year, along with September and, sometimes July or August (which were always two very unpredictably months in terms of sales). The colder (or as we like to say around here “less mild”) months from November to February were always amongst the quietest, with few people coming over here from abroad and very little interest from the local market. As a generalisation, this was pretty much true. In recent years, however, things have turned on their head somewhat in that January is now one of our busiest months of the year for sales and the last 2 Decembers have been as busy as any average month. The period from January to March is now almost as active a period as that of April to June.
So why has there been such a dramatic change in behaviour? Has everyone gone mad? Have weather patterns changed so much that the effect is spilling over into property-buying patterns as well?
Well, there are a couple of factors which are important and which do explain this phenomenon:
First of all, the advent of the ultra-cheap flight has meant that people coming from abroad now tend to plan their travelling around the availability of cheap flights through Ryanair. These flights tend to be available on quiet dates, such as January or mid-November. The same goes, of course, for ferries, which are also cheaper in the darker months.
The second factor which I believe has contributed to the pick-up in business in the off-season is the fact that the budget now comes out in December – at the end of the year, rather than in April, as it used to do. I’m not sure what the April idea was about in the first place: it was only a matter of time, I suppose, that the budget was going to move to the more logical time of the end of the year. Anyway, the net result is that a lot of people are now prompted by the advent of the budget to make their property investments in January. This stimulation of the market, coupled with the first mentioned factor, have resulted in a bit of a mini-boom in January, which often extends into February and March.
Harringtons – Estate Agents Bantry – 027 51553
Specialising in West Cork Property in Bantry, Glengarriff, Beara, Sheeps Head and surrounding areas
