AROUND THE BLOCK: COUNTRY HOUSE estate agents generally wait until Easter is over and the rhododendrons are starting to bloom before showing off their big rural piles.
But this year, business is likely to be slow with land prices dropping and overseas buyers thin on the ground.
Consequently country house prices are heading south, down by as much as 50 per cent in the case of our front page house, Castle Annaghs in Co Kilkenny, a 550-acre estate that has been reduced from €16 million to €7.5 million.
The original price tag reflects the fact that the property may have had some development potential – it came on the market a year ago, long before the international financial crisis sent property prices reeling at home.
With a dearth of new stock coming on the market (owners have very little incentive to sell up and are opting to sit tight until things improve) estate agents are having to come up with new ideas.
Kildare auctioneers Nolan Brophy has teamed up with bloodstock auctioneers Goffs, to generate a bit of business. The resulting company, Goffs Country Property, will specialise in country house, stud farm and agricultural land.
The sector may be quiet at present but, according to Andrew Nolan, the Goffs name will give the venture access to the bloodstock fraternity abroad, who may come for the horses and stay for the houses.
