40% of houses sold in Dublin are executor sales following the death of the owner, reflecting an acute shortage of houses for sale that is driving prices up.

What does this Mean?
Potential property buyers are waiting for homeowners in valuable key areas to pass away before they can acquire the home of their dreams. There is now a shortage of family homes in parts of the capital causing prices to rise by as much as 20 per cent this year in “hot” areas.

Banks will not allow homeowners with tracker mortgages to transfer their ‘golden handcuffs’ home loans to other properties, meaning many of the 375,000 homeowners on trackers have opted to extend or renovate their properties rather than trade up. A vast number of homeowners are trapped in negative equity, which means that growing families are trapped in smaller homes and cannot trade up as their family expands.

In Dublin, this has caused frenetic bidding for houses in many key locations both north and south of the Liffey, including apartments. On the northside, areas such as Glasnevin, Drumcondra and Marino are particularly hot, while substantial 3 and 4 bedroom family homes in Clontarf are also highly prized.

On the southside, Dublin 4 including Sandymount, Ballsbridge, Donnybrook, Ringsend and Irishtown; and Dublin 6, including Milltown, Ranelagh, Rathmines and Rathgar; and stretching west to Harold’s Cross, Templeogue, and Terenure, are in high demand. Other areas of South County Dublin and parts of Wicklow have also experienced considerable price increases.

Dublin 4 and Dublin 6 areas had increases of 18 per cent in the last year, with demand highest for three and four bed homes. At Keane Thompson, we would calculate that around 40 per cent are executor sales, and on top of that there is then the issue of tracker mortgages and negative equity.

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