Poky - or palatial?

City Living: €400,000 can buy you a six-bed in the sticks - or a hovel close to Dublin city centre. But the choice is agonising, says Edel Morgan

With a budget of €400,000 to play with, you would think finding a habitable house or apartment within a three mile radius of Dublin city centre would be a piece of cake.

Not so, says one Dublin househunter, who has all but given up hope of ever finding a property within his price range. He and his wife have few demands except that the property should be within easy commuting distance of the city centre and in reasonable condition .

Although €400,000 may seem like a lot of money - in some parts of Dublin it seems to lose its currency and may as well be €40 for all the real estate it will buy you.

His stories of viewing what turned out to be €300,000-plus Dickensian hovels would be comical if it were a fictional account. But the reality is that young couples and families are being put through hell in their search for a place to live - particularly if they want to remain within easy reach of the city centre or in what is considered a desirable outer suburb.

He and his wife went to see a cottage in Dublin 6 that was so small a double bed was wedged up against the main bedroom walls on three sides leaving no circulation space. The single bed in another room was at a peculiar angle because it didn't fit properly. At the back of the house in a makeshift extension area there was a lone camping stove for boiling a kettle.Apparently the house had been owned by a chef who didn't need a kitchen because he spent all day in one. The asking price was €390,000 and apparently there was scope to build upwards subject to planning permission according to the estate agent.

A house off the Malahide Road in Dublin 9 smelled of cat pee. Another viewer put his foot through the rotting floorboards in the hall. His verdict: the only option would be to demolish and rebuild.The price tag was €270,000.

A Ringsend apartment which came complete with smelly common areas and a hefty maintenance fee sparked a frenzied bidding which, the last he heard went up to €390,000.

He dropped out of the bidding for a Dublin 5 property he was interested in to go for a Dublin 2 apartment. Unfortunately the sale fell through due to structural problems discovered in the survey.

He says he felt pressurised by estate agents into making a swift decision. Any half decent place he saw was being chased by others and spiralled above his budget because of feverish bidding.

The problem is that there is a dearth of good second-hand properties within three miles of the city centre and new builds are few and far between.

Will this situation lead more people to abandon their dreams of living within walking distance from work ? Will more people start to re-consider the outer suburbs and commuter towns where the bulk of new houses are being built?

Predictions are that by Spring/Summer 2005 there will be a glut of new homes on the Irish market. Supply is set to far outstrip demand and builders will have to work harder to offload new developments. This will translate into more competitive pricing and plusher more spacious homes for your money. Perks in the form of free appliances and furniture packages will be thrown in as builders vie to sell units.

The oversupply won't kick in this season although prices of new homes are already competitive. The further you move outside Dublin the larger the house you are likely to afford.

The choice is now between out-of-town palatial versus pokey but convenient urban dwelling.

Recently I visited a family house near scenic the scenic village of Kilmessan in Co Meath. Located on a small estate of about 20 houses, it had four double bedrooms, no less that five fully tiled bathrooms, a utility room, a garage ripe for conversion, a large kitchen, downstairs toilet, big receptions rooms and great views of the countryside.

The downside is the long commute to Dublin city at peak hour times and the maze of narrow country roads that have to be negotiated twice daily. The owners felt the journey was worth it to escape the city madness at weekends and felt it was a better place to bring up their children.

Some months back four bed detached houses houses went on sale in Kilmessan from €295,000. A search of a property web site unearthed some surprises. For €235,000 you can buy a good sized three bedroom semi-detached in Mornington in Drogheda Co Meath just minutes from the beach. For around the same price you can get a three bed townhouse in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15.

Add €10,000 to that and you can just about afford a two-bedroom mid-terrace house in need of modernisation on Ratoath Road in Cabra. Around €250,000 will get you a one-bed 592 sq ft apartment at Caragh Court on Philipsburgh Avenue Fairview .You would get change out of €400,000 if you were to buy a six-bedroom bungalow in Castledermot co Kildare on one acre that is currently on the market.

Whether to persevere with the search for a city home or bail out and get a better house - and often a better environment - for your money is a difficult choice for many. In the current property market there is inevitably some compromise unless you are wealthy enough to pick and choose. The distances that many people dread travelling between commuter towns and Dublin are not huge when compared to those of other European countries but are exacerbated by a patchy public transport system . This will see towns on the rail network reaping the benefits. Drogheda for example is currently undergoing a renaissance with a booming city centre, good road and rail links and plenty of new housing development. But as Drogheda becomes increasingly better equipped to take the overspill from Dublin , will this see a consequent upward spiral of house prices there forcing some buyers to look even further afield?