Queues signal Temple Bar apartment sell-out

Forty apartments going on the market today in Dublin's Temple Bar area will probably be sold within an hour or so. Forty-five buyers who queued outside the offices of Hooke and MacDonald at the weekend and again on Monday were allocated numbers which will give them first choice when the sales office opens today. Owner-occupiers are being given priority for the first 30 units and investors are likely to get some of remaining 10 apartments. The 40 apartments are located in Pudding Row, the first of five blocks under construction in the west end of Temple Bar. Selling prices, at £320 per sq ft, are on the high side for an inner city development - though buyers will be able to claim tax concessions. One-bedroom apartments, with about 500 sq ft, are priced from £150,000 to £165,000 while two-bedroom units, with 600 to 900 sq ft, will cost from £200,000 to £250,000. A further 150 apartments in the west end are due to come on the market, mainly towards the end of the year.