SELLERS THESE days are being told that it can take months to offload property but, in the case of 1A Albert Road in Sandycove, it took just three weeks for a “Sold” sign to appear.
The refurbished three-bedroom house went on the market at €1.275 million and is thought to have sold for less – but the real price cannot be revealed.
As with all private treaty sales, there is no public record of the price achieved, and the real sale price can only be published if there is written permission from both the buyer and the seller.
In the case of another recent sale, Ladyrath, a 50-acre farm at Wilkinstown, Co Meath, we’re told the property was withdrawn from auction by TE Potterton and sold afterwards for a “substantially higher price”.
This was a rare auction, but a price only becomes public if is achieved on the day, under the hammer.
This situation needs to change if buyers are to have any faith in the market.
Perhaps, along with the emergency legislation that is to be passed to set up NAMA, the Government might consider establishing a public register of house prices.
How, after all, can NAMA hope to establish the true value of property owned by developers if property prices are protected by the Data Protection Act?
