THE ORGANISERS of Munster's first discounted property sale yesterday expressed their disappointment after just two of the 64 properties for sale sold at auction with over 90 per cent of the properties having to be withdrawn without reaching their reserve price.
The auction of discounted properties by west Cork firm GMAC Property attracted about 200 people to the Radisson Hotel in Little Island in Cork yesterday but bidding was very slow with less than 30 per cent of the properties attracting bids.
Tom McCarthy of GMAC said they were "somewhat surprised and disappointed" by the response to the auction of a selection of townhouses, country homes, sites with planning permission and land without planning permissions in Munster, Leinster and Dublin.
Unlike the auction of bank-owned properties in Dublin in April, the properties yesterday were all being sold on behalf of private vendors and one developer who was seeking to sell five properties in Urlingford, Co Kilkenny.
Mr McCarthy said he still believed that such auctions were the right way to go as there was "a huge appetite" for them from vendors but unfortunately, it did not seem there was the same interest on the part of buyers. He said GMAC would proceed with another auction in September.
Some 19 properties were withdrawn without reaching their reserve prices before a flurry of bidding suggested a 0.5 acre site in Emly, Co Tipperary, with planning permission for 12 terraced houses might make its reserve of €35,000 only to ultimately fall short.
It wasn't until the 27th lot that GMAC recorded its first sale when a man from north Cork bid €26,000 for an acre of land without planning permission at Dún Chaoin outside Dingle and saw his success celebrated with a round of relieved applause from the crowd. The man, who did not wish to be named, said: "What makes it are the views - it's looking out on the Blasket Islands so it's a spectacular setting. It may take a long while to get planning permission even though there are houses all around it but the views are never going to change - it's a long-term investment."
A man from Kerry described the demand for property as "brutal - it just isn't there" but several attendees said they believed the reserve prices were set too high.
Later, a second parcel of land, some 12 acres at Leap near Skibbereen zoned for horticultural use and including a well, went under the hammer for €69,000 after the vendor agreed to reduce its minimum reserve price of €70,000 to secure the sale.
Noel Forde of GMAC said the company had succeeded in selling three properties pre-auction including houses at Rylane in Co Cork and Cashel in Co Tipperary while post-auction negotiations led to another three sales including the Emly site.
Among the other properties that Mr Forde expressed confidence would sell was a four-bedroom detached house at Killeagh in Co Cork. The owners had refused a bid of €690,000 for it in 2007 but were now seeking €370,000 and he expected a deal to be done at €300,000.