The Sunday Business Post | Grounds for optimism in Dublin city centre

The Sunday Business Post, January 1st 2017 

The new rules on mortgage lending, other buyer incentives and an increasing supply of new homes in the pipeline have created conditions that are altogether more positive for the property market. I expect an increased number of first-time buyers to enter the market this year and I believe that movement throughout the market will follow.

To capture this, a number of our clients will sell early in 2017 and we anticipate a busy first six months. While we hope the construction industry will be motivated, supply will undoubtedly continue to lag behind demand and continue to put upward pressure on prices; I anticipate price growth of at least 5 per cent but there is potential for a higher level of inflation – not something I am sure we should welcome.

Meanwhile, regulation and government intervention in the rental sector has increased and only time will tell how the market will react.

While I would suggest that nobody could predict how the market will fare next year, there are reasons for optimism.

We would hope to see some tangible positive effects of Brexit. In Dublin Docklands, the residential developments currently under construction hold great promise; the transformation of brownfield sites and the addition of residential stock of a far higher specification will lift all neighbourhoods and all existing stock.

This year will also see the completion (hopefully) of the Luas Cross City project.

We anticipate an uplift in property values in the city centre neighbourhoods involved and will be watching Grangegorman with particular interest this year.

Owen Reilly estate agency service was established in 2008 in the Docklands and operates there and throughout south Dublin and Dublin’s city centre. 

The Sunday Business Post, January 1st 2017 

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