by Rose Rushe
A SURPRISE auction at Limerick Strand Hotel saw apartments at next door’s The Strand Complex gross sales of €3mn in one heated hour for 13 individual lots. By close of business a day later this Friday 18, REA O’Connor Murphy auctioneer Michael O’Connor confirmed that to date, 18 units are sale agreed to the ballpark gross of €4.4mn.
The top price paid for one unit was €300,000 with €225,000 being the typical price for a two-bed, two-bath with parking.
Incessant enquiries are ongoing by interested parties but another 50 apartments in other towers in this upmarket complex will be released within weeks – at prices “not yet confirmed” – which indicates an upward shift in the published reserved.
On Thursday 17 at 6pm, REA O’Connor Murphy auctioneers were led by sudden twists to the well-publicised release of 30 mostly two-bed units when demand outstripped expectation to scupper the set ‘first past the post’ booking system for deposits.
The weight of prospective buyers pushed REA director Michael O’Connor into revising procedure, first permitting viewings of several prepared apartments, and then sale by auction after 8pm.
Mr O’Connor obliged with the onsite public sale whereby all parties could compete for favoured lots at one time.
Another event that defined the evening was client NAMA’s removal of the third storey to towers The Thomond and The Sarsfield at O’Callaghan Strand, which honed demand further. And such was footfall that there was a last minute shift to the more spacious Cityview Suite which confused late stragglers who had pitched to the Terrace Café as advertised.
