Sheep's Head and West Cork Property in state of Flux?
The situation currently with property West Cork and on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula is very hard to gauge accurately.
The question mark that hung over the whole stamp duty question put the market on hold for several months. The situation has been resolved by the new government, but while Nero was fiddling, Rome was burning…
Well, it’s not as dramatic as all that and I’m not implying that we’re looking at a disastrous situation or anything like it. The economy is performing well and property prices in the area are holding their own. In fact, so far the only thing that has come down is the level of expectation of prices. With all the sober warnings from various publications about how poorly the property sector is going, it has become firmly engrained in the minds of people selling houses that they are fighting an uphill battle to get their house sold.
This, in itself, should provide some stimulus for the marketplace. The truth of the matter is that since the publication of the Government’s bill on stamp duty (which eradicated stamp duty for first-time buyers of second-hand homes), there has been a marked increase in activity. This, however, has been mostly for second-hand homes and not so much the newer ones. So, why is this? Difficult to say at this point. It is a bit of a mystery as, normally speaking, when there is strong activity, the new homes sector is where you’re almost guaranteed to see some action.
In any case, our area is a small one and trends tend to be measured over longer periods of time before you can assess them with any accuracy. Interest rates are high and still climbing in a heavily mortgaged society, so it’s only natural that things would be a little sluggish. Things are recovering, however, and the next few months should bear out this prediction in property in West Cork and Sheep’s Head Property.
