My homeland of Ireland is an undeniably beautiful place…
Vibrant green fields roll over undulating hills…long, golden-sand beaches nestle beneath towering craggy cliffs…quaint villages dating back millennia sit in ancient valleys, on glistening seafronts, and on the shores of tranquil lakes…
When the sun is shining, Ireland’s rolling forested hills look resplendent.
I’ve been spending the summer at my home in the south of Ireland.
At this time of year, you’ll see visitors from around the world who come to the Emerald Isle to soak up the traditional culture, stunning vistas, and rich history. Heritage tours for those of Irish descent are extremely popular. Some ultimately decide to make their home here by taking advantage of Ireland’s citizenship-by-ancestry program.
I know from the emails I get from Overseas Dream Home readers how popular Ireland is and how many people are interested in owning real estate here, particularly on its idyllic, rural west coast. (Have a question or a place you’d like us to scout? Share it here.)
For instance, in recent weeks, Kathleen N. wrote in asking about Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way (the west coast of Ireland) around the Burren and Galway.
And Nanci R. asked me about real estate in County Clare and towns there like Ennis, Lahinch, and Liscannor.
So, today, I’m going to dig into those areas in the rural west of Ireland and show you the kinds of homes you’ll find on the market there. I’m also going to zoom out and offer some broader thoughts on Ireland and its frankly crazy real estate market. More on that below…
But first, here’s some listings my team found in the west of Ireland… (Note: we haven’t visited these properties or done any due diligence on them.)
I love to visit Lahinch on the west coast of Ireland to play its world class links golf course. In recent decades the coastal town has also become one of Europe’s leading surf centers.
Cozy Traditional Two-Bed Cottage for $163,300
The Wild Atlantic Way is a tourism trail that runs the length of Ireland’s west coast for over 1,500 miles. It showcases the country’s scenic coastline of white sands, towering cliffs, big waves (ideal for surfing), and quaint villages steeped in history, culture, and music.
It runs from Cork, in the south, all the way up to Donegal at the very north of the island and is home to some of the most visited towns and villages in Ireland, like Dingle, Kenmare (go here to read about my recent visit there), Doolin, and Galway City, to name just some.
Clifden in County Galway is just one of the charming towns you’ll find dotted along Ireland’s famed West Coast.
The closer you are to any of the popular tourist towns, the higher the real estate prices will be. But if you expand the search a little, you can pick up some good-value properties.
On the market right now is this cozy cottage, set on the estuary of the River Shannon in Labasheeda, in the very south of County Clare. You’re about a 45-minute drive from Shannon Airport with its regular flights to the U.S.
Sitting on a lot of just over an acre, the cottage has two beds, one bath, a kitchen, a living room with fireplace, and there’s an attic for storage. At the back of the house is an elevated garden with views of the surrounding native woodland, hills, and valleys. This cottage is listed for €150,000 ($163,600). The listing is here.
This small cottage in County Clare is on the market for $163,600. See the listing here.
Three-Bed Terraced House in the Burren Region for $217,000
The Burren is an Irish national park famous for its glacial-era cliffs, caves, fossils, limestone rock formations and archeological sites. Spanning some 200 square miles, this geological park is noted for its stark beauty and is a popular tourist attraction.
In the heart of the Burren is this three-bed, three-bath, mid-terrace house. The house is on the grounds of a former parochial house at the edge of Corofin village. The bigger and more vibrant town of Ennis is about a 15-minute drive away.
Located in a small development, this house has a fully fitted kitchen, living/dining room, and a fully enclosed back garden. The asking price is €199,000 ($217,000). Full listing here.
Located in a small development in the village of Corofin, this townhouse (painted blue) is minutes from the stark, but oddly beautiful Burren National Park. Listing here.
Traditional Thatched Cottage Dating to 1825 for $212,650
Further north along the Wild Atlantic Way, Galway is a county with a lot to offer. It has rolling farmland plains, stunning beaches and lakes, heather-covered hills, and the wild and rugged beauty that is the rural Connemara region. The county capital of Galway City, a major tourist destination, is renowned for its traditional Irish music scene.
Just over a half-hour drive east of Galway City, in the townland of Oldhouse, is this charming three-bed, one-bath, thatched-roof cottage.
Originally built it 1825, it was part of the Moyode Estate and is tucked away down a quiet country road. It has a living room with a limestone fireplace, kitchen, and a large garden. It needs some modernizing but this is a quintessential Irish cottage. It’s on the market for €195,000 ($212,650) and you can see the full listing here.
This two-century-old thatched cottage is down a quaint countryside land. It’s on the market for €195,000.Listing here.
Four-Bed House on a Lake for $207,400
If you’re looking for a quieter, more remote location to really get away from it all, this four-bed, one-bath house might be for you. Located to the north of Galway, on the southern end of the shores of the impressive Lough Mask (Ireland’s fourth-largest lake), it’s set among rolling green hills.
The house also has a living room, kitchen, and another room that could be turned into an office or additional bedroom. Outside there’s a walled garden. This home is an hour’s drive from Galway City. The listing is here and the price is €190,000 ($207,400).
This four-bed home near Lough Mask is on the market for €190,000. Listing here.
Properties in the west of Ireland could potentially be rented out short term as vacation homes, but there is a limited rental season in this part of the country.
High season is summer, when the sun is shining and the days are long. Outside of the summer months (and even during them), expect plenty of rain. The west is considered Ireland’s wettest region. Winter days are short and cold.
So ultimately, renting may be more sensible than buying in this region, given the long, dark and wet winters.
You also need to be aware of the wider real estate situation in Ireland…
Ireland’s Crazy Real Estate Market
Ireland has a hugely dysfunctional real estate market at present. Put simply, there’s a chronic shortage of homes.
I predicted this shortage 13 years ago when Ireland was still struggling in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and almost no one wanted to buy here. I could see then that a collapse in construction activity combined with demographic trends would led to a big housing shortfall in the decades ahead.
That’s what’s happened. A new generation has reached homeownership age in Ireland, but there’s very limited supply for them. As a result, prices have skyrocketed.
If you got in 13 years ago you could have 15X your money by now (assuming 80% leverage/mortgage). For instance, in February 2012 I recommended two-bedroom apartments in Dublin’s financial district selling for €135,000 (about $179,000 at the time) to members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group
When I last checked, two-bedroom apartments in the same area list for €400,000 to €450,000. At the high end, that’s a 233% gain on capital appreciation alone. With leverage (if you borrowed 80%) that becomes 1,567% (before transactions costs)…and that doesn’t even include the roughly €25,000 to €30,000 you would have collected in rents every year.
Today, though, opportunities like this are no longer available in Ireland.
Ireland has a massive deficit of around 250,000 homes (in a country of 5 million people). And it has a construction industry that’s seeing little growth due to soaring costs for labor and materials. When I checked in mid-July, there are only around 15,000 homes listed for sale across the country.
There’s also a massive shortage of long-term rental properties in Ireland right now. In mid-July there were just over 1,800 properties for long-term rent in the entire country—many of them in very bad condition. Some of that is due to the lack of housing available. But the last few years have also seen an exodus of landlords from the market due to stricter controls on rents.
Ireland began reforming its rental sector in 2016. It introduced rental controls, including designating Rent Pressure Zones around the country where rent prices can’t be increased by more than 2% per year. This has put pressure on landlords, many of whom are deciding to get out of the market.
A noted financial commentator in Ireland, Eoin McGee, says he’s been telling landlords in Rent Pressure Zones to leave their properties vacant for two years and then put a new tenant into it. You see, properties that have been vacant for two years are exempt from rent increase limits. McGee says he has crunched the numbers and some landlords would be financially better off doing this.
All of which is to say… Ireland is a now an expensive place to buy real estate (the median house price is €366,653) and renting out your home there can be a legal quagmire.
Of course, the big price tags primarily apply to houses in the big population centers and popular towns. Outside of these towns and cities, you’ll still find affordable homes, particularly in the rural west of the country. But given the wider situation, these must still be viewed as lifestyle rather than investment plays.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. Have a question or comment? Want to know more about owning in Ireland? Want to hear about my top destinations for investing in Europe? Have a place you’d like us to scout? Let me know here.
