This article is from page 8 of the 2012-07-03 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
CRATLOE is the most expensive part of Clare for house hunters.
According to the real-estate website daft.ie the average asking price for a house in the southern part of the county, on the border with Limerick city and stretching up towards Sixmilebridge, is now at € 181,698.
However the prices here have dropped significantly since peak prices, from April to June 2007.
Back then the asking price for an average family home was € 371,091, over twice the current asking price.
As of June this year, the average price for a two-bed property in this area was € 114,577, a three-bed property € 161,458, and a four-bed property € 273,758.
On average house prices in Clare have dropped by 50.6 per cent since the height of the boom, but while almost all of Munster was showing an evening out of prices during between March and June, Clare and Limerick City were the exceptions.
Asking prices for house in Clare continued to drop by as much as 2.8 per cent during these last three months, with the average price now at € 151,211. The average four-bedroom house in the county has an asking price of € 186,000 however with five-beds reaching € 261,000.
Those wishing to become home owners can also expect to pay above the county average in Flagmount, Feakle and Caher where there is an average asking price of € 158,911, down 49 per cent since peak prices and Tulla and O’Callaghan’s Mills has an average asking price of € 153,599 down 45.6 per cent.
Prices are also relatively high in Doolin and Kilshanny at € 154,833, down 48.7 per cent in five years.
And if you want a bargain buy in County Clare your best bet is West Clare where houses covering an area from Kilmurry McMahon, up towards Connolly and Quilty and west to Cree have an average asking price of € 91,959.