Irish properties for NY March exhibit

The online illustration for the March 3 Irish property exhibition in New York.

By Irish Echo Staff

American eyes are glancing eastward again towards not only Ireland in its totality, but also individual properties on the island.

And a range of those properties will be featured at an exhibition set for Manhattan on March 3.

The New York event, at Fitzpatricks Grand Central Hotel in Midtown, is being spurred by a recent national estate agents survey showing that almost one in six overseas enquiries about Irish property are now coming from the United States.

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U.S. property buyers are flocking to secure homes and investment properties in Ireland, buoyed by a strong dollar and the lure of a resurgent economy for emigrants, the Real Estate Alliance nationwide survey found.

A survey of REA members shows that enquiries from the U.S. increased from almost zero to 16 percent in 2015, said a release.

And this could signal the first major return of emigrants who feel that the time is right to move back to Ireland, the release added.

“While there has always been interest from the U.S. market, this has increased markedly in a year that saw a twenty two percent increase in overseas enquiries about Irish property,” said REA Chairman, Michael O’Connor.

“Overall, calls from overseas buyers represented nineteen percent of all enquiries received by REA agents in 2015 and sixteen percent of total sales. Forty nine percent of our enquiries came from the UK, eight percent from continental Europe, ten percent from Australia, but the real surge in new interest came from the U.S.,” O’Connor said.

“The average house price in the U.S. in November 2015 was $374,900 (€341,656), compared to our Average House Price survey national value of €188,370, so there is obvious value for American buyers in Ireland,” O’Connor added.

The REA release said that it was offering Irish property vendors “the chance to cash in on this mini-boom by registering for the Alliance’s upcoming New York Property Exhibition – the first of its kind to be held in the U.S.”

REA, the release added, are bringing thousands of properties to New York, giving a host of U.S. buyers the chance “to browse in comfort and talk to the experts on the ground.”

The exhibition will take place in the Fitzpatrick Hotel at Grand Central from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3.

According to REA agents, thirty one percent of overseas buyers are moving to Ireland to live and work, twenty nine percent are purchasing a home for their retirement and twenty percent are purchasing as an investment.

“U.S. buyer interest is particularly strong in many undervalued rural counties and scenic locations and for the first time in the bigger cities, mostly from emigrants who feel that the time is right to return,” said Michael O’Connor.

“This presents many vendors with the opportunity of achieving better prices due to interest outside of the normal marketplace.”

Real Estate Alliance (REA), said the release, is Ireland’s leading property group of chartered surveyors with over 55 branches nationwide, comprising many of the country’s longest-established auctioneers and estate agents.

Further details on the REA New York Property Exhibition, a ticketless event, and a list of local agents, can be found on www.realestatealliance.ie/NewYork or send an email to register for the event to atinfo@realestatealliance.ie or www.realestatealliance.ie. RSVPs to www.newyork@realestatealliance.ie.

 

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