The buys of Wexford: over-development in boom left glut of holiday homes in some areas

FOR GENERATIONS of Irish people Wexford has been synonymous with holidays. Given that almost the entire county, from Ballymoney to Duncannon, is fringed with golden sands, and that it has a sunnier climate than the rest of the country, there is good reason for this.

Unfortunately, however, over-development during the boom has left an overhang of holiday homes in some areas.

It depends where you go, says Michael O’Leary of Sherry Fitzgerald O’Leary in Enniscorthy. “We sell around Blackwater and Curracloe, and there is not a glut of oversupply here as much as there is in places such as Courttown, where there were too many tax incentive-driven developments. In Blackwater, in particular, the fact that there is no main sewerage scheme protected it.”

In some cases holiday home developments are now being lived in as permanent homes. As a permanent home such houses certainly make good value, with a three bedroom easily found for less than €100,000.

Regardless of purpose, however, they are proving hard to shift.

“Holiday homes are very slow to sell, especially standard ones,” says John Corish of Property Partners. “Right now upmarket ones, one-off second homes in the €275,000 to €500,000 bracket, are actually easier to sell. It’s very quiet for Section 23 types.”

Estate agent Dolores Power agrees. “The holiday home is the section of Wexford’s property market that has been most seriously hit in recent years. There is just so much of it out there now that you can expect to pay €120,000 for something that would have cost you €300,000 a few years ago.”

Very many holiday homes are unfinished, an issue that needs to be rectified as soon as possible, she says.

“There has to be resolution reached between local authorities and either the banks or Nama if we are to get things moving again.

“Tourism is a massive part of Wexford’s income, so as a county we badly need to find a solution or nothing is going to happen. As things stand, unfinished estates are off-putting for buyers.”

Well-located holiday homes will still sell, however, but only at the right price, agrees Ciara Slattery of Warrens Estates in Gorey.

Homes in well-known developments such as Sandy Cove and Sandy Lane in Ballymoney to the north of the county are down from €550,000 to around €190,000, and at that price are attracting interest.

“For that you get a detached, split-level bungalow, with nice south-facing gardens in walk-in order, tennis courts and access to the beach,” she says.

In bigger holiday centres, such as Courttown, holiday homes for sale are plentiful and start at around €100,000.

In a county famous for its beaches, coastal sites still command a premium but are rare.

As for inland sites: “There just isn’t demand for them at all because property prices have fallen so much more than building prices have, making it much cheaper now to buy than to build,” says Slattery.