Latest news with #HJByrne
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Sinéad O'Connor's former home in Bray sells for €1.295m
The seafront Victorian style house was put on the market by estate agents, HJ Byrne last December Sinéad O'Connor's former Wicklow home has been sold for €1.295m, according to figures from the Residential Property Price Register. The seafront Victorian style home at Bray was put on the market by estate agents, HJ Byrne last December with a guide price of €1.295m. A 'sale agreed' sign was erected at the Montebello property in March and now an official entry on the Property Price Register has confirmed that the sale closed on July 16 and €1.295m was the purchase price - meeting the guide price put in place last December. At 3,713 sq ft, 'Montebello' is well over three times the size of an average family home and includes six bedrooms and three bathrooms. Sinead's former home in Bray News in 90 Seconds - August 15th The €1.295m sale is one of nine €1m+ residential property sales to take place in the much in-demand seaside town of Bray to date this year. The move to put the property on the market came five months after An Coimisiún Pleanála refused planning permission to convert the property into five apartments. A number of local residents opposed the planned apartment scheme and ACP refused planning permission after finding that the proposal would result in an incongruous structure in terms of design. ACP - in dismissing its own inspector's recommendation to grant planning permission - found that the scheme would adversely affect the architectural character of the seafront area. The property holds major significance for the late star, who lived in the property for 15 years. O'Connor died at the age of 56 on July 26th 2023 of natural causes at her London home. In August 2023, mourners left flowers outside the home as thousands of people gathered on the seafront outside Montebello to see Ms O'Connor's funeral cortege make its way to a private burial. Fans returned to the seafront home last year from as far away as New Zealand to pay homage to the 'Nothing Compares to U' singer. The seafront building has been in the public eye ever since the late star bought it at the height of the property boom in 2007, for €1.7m, only to slash the asking price to €950,000 when she put it back on the market in 2021. The 1860's double-fronted six bed house facing the promenade later sold for €1.04m in November 2021.
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Sinéad O'Connor's former Bray seafront home sells for €1.295m
Sinéad O'Connor 's former Wicklow home has been sold for €1.295m, according to figures from the Residential Property Price Register. The seafront Victorian style home at Bray was put on the market by estate agents, HJ Byrne last December with a guide price of €1.295m. A 'sale agreed' sign was erected at the property in March and now an official entry on the Property Price Register has confirmed that the sale closed on July 16th, meeting the guide price. At 3,713 sq ft, 'Montebello', as it is named, is well over three times the size of an average family home and includes six bedrooms and three bathrooms. READ MORE The €1.295m sale is one of nine €1m+ residential property sales to take place in the in-demand seaside town of Bray to date this year. The move to put the property on the market came five months after An Coimisiún Pleanála refused planning permission to then owner, Rachel Carthy, to convert the property into five apartments. A number of local residents opposed the planned apartment scheme and An Coimisiún Pleanála found that the proposal would result in an incongruous structure in terms of design. The commission, is dismissing its own inspector's recommendation to grant planning permission, found that the scheme would adversely affect the architectural character of the seafront area. The property has become a site of pilgrimage for fans of the late singer, who lived in the property for 15 years. Ana Bento, Maria Correia and Lina Gouveia from Portugal place flowers at Sinead O'Connor's former home in Bray on the first anniversary of her death. Photograph: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin Ms O'Connor died at the age of 56 on July 26th 2023 of natural causes at her London home, and in August 2023, mourners left flowers outside the home as thousands of people gathered on the seafront to see her funeral cortege make its way past. Fans returned last year from as far away as New Zealand to pay homage to the 'Nothing Compares to U' singer. The seafront building has been in the public eye ever since Ms O'Connor bought it at the height of the property boom in 2007, for €1.7m, only to slash the asking price to €950,000 when she put it back on the market in 2021. The 1860s double-fronted six bed house facing the promenade later sold for €1.04m in November 2021. One objection lodged on behalf of next door neighbours on Strand Road claimed that the scheme 'is an excessive and far too commercial development that fails to have due regard to the protection of the residential amenities of adjoining houses'. The objection, by Ceceline and Frank Power - drafted by Peter P. Gillett & Associates - contended that 'the quest to maximise the amount of development on site undermines the existing quality of the living environment that our clients enjoy and that would be reasonable to protect'.
Irish Independent
24-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Cost of one-bedroom apartments soaring in Wicklow as average hits €191,000
While the average list price of a home in the county is now €454,929, a rise of 13pc compared with a year ago, the price for a one-bedroom apartment has risen by 26.5pc. This compares with a two-bedroom terraced house, which has risen to €250,000, an increase of 13.6pc, while your three-bed semi has risen to €330,000, an increase of 10.4pc. Commenting on the steep rise for a one-bedroom apartment in the county, Garret O'Bric, from agents HJ Byrne, in Bray, said that one-beds don't come around very often and they are 'a bit of an oddity' in the market, even though they are viewed as a first step on the ladder. He said the last one-bedroom apartment he sold in Bray, an own-door home in a good location at Wilford Court, fetched well over €300,000. While it is down to demand, he added that some banks are reluctant to give loans for a one-bed and there is a different loan-to-value on them. "Most first-time buyers don't really want them because you can't rent out another room, investors don't really want them because they'd rather go for a two-bed. But it's also affordability,' he said. 'It's the low-hanging fruit for people if they are going to get on the ladder.' Asking prices for houses have soared by an average of 12.3pc nationwide to €357,851 in the past year, according to the House Price Report for Q2. The report also notes that this rate of house-price inflation is the highest since the Central Bank's mortgage-lending rules, which were introduced in 2015. It means that outside Dublin, Wicklow remains the most expensive county in Leinster to buy a home. The report also notes that the typical property sells for a price that is 1.1pc below its listing price – but that gap has changed a lot over time. For example, during the period 2010-2012, properties sold on average for 10pc less than their initial listed price. Across the country, the typical transaction price in the second quarter of 2025 was 6.3pc above the listed price. A year ago, the gap nationally had been 3.5pc, while two years ago, in Q2 2023, the typical transaction price was 1.1pc above the listed price. However, the second quarter of 2025 saw the highest level of 'market heat' ,measured by the premium paid by buyers above the listed price than at any other time since the start of 2010. The Daft report author, Ronan Lyons, was quite blunt in his assessment of the current state of the housing market, when he said: 'Ultimately, the market is still starved of supply.' Remarking that there is 'little to be cheery about', he added that there are simply too few homes on the market at the moment. "On top of an insufficient number of new homes being built, there are also not enough second-hand homes being traded,' he said. 'In the year to June 1, there were a total of just over 51,000 second-hand homes put on the market. For comparison, in 2019, before all the disruption of Covid, there were almost 67,000 homes put up for sale.' Scarcity and strong demand will put 'acute pressure on prices', he said.
