‘Extraordinary’ sales demonstrate strength of market, says Cairn Homes chief executive

Builder Cairn Homes sold 48 houses for more than €25 million on the first day it opened a new development to prospective buyers.

Dublin- and London-listed Cairn opened a newly built estate at Glenheron, Greystones, Co Wicklow on Saturday.

Cairn said it sold 48 homes there for a total of €25.15 million on the first day, a reflection of the Republic’s demand for housing.

Buyers paid €435,000 for three-bedroom semi-detached houses, between €495,000 and €510,00 for four-bedroom homes and from €550,000 to €700,000 for detached dwellings.

Twenty five of the homes sold on Saturday were completed while 23 were under construction.

Michael Stanley, Cairn’s chief executive, said the customers were a 50-50 mix of first-time buyers and families trading up from other properties.

He described the sale as extraordinary. “There has been good demand across all our developments this spring but this is the clearest demonstration I have seen of the strength of the market for well-built homes,” he said.

Cairn built 50 homes during phase one of Glenheron. The company sold 25 of these “off plans” while it was still building them.

The builder is working on a further 192 dwellings in the second phase of the same development.

Cairn is building more than 3,500 houses on 11 different sites in greater Dublin. It plans to begin construction on several more developments later this year.

The company hopes to sell a block of 120 apartments on Dublin’s Hanover Quay in a single deal early next year.

Cairn reported last month that it earned pre-tax profits of €6 million in 2017, turning around a €2.8 million loss the previous year.

The company sold 418 new homes last year at an average of €315,000. At the time that Cairn reported its 2017 results, Mr Stanley said the builder hoped to construct 1,300-1,400 dwellings a year.

Cairn floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2015 and listed in Dublin last year.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/construction/cairn-sells-48-homes-at-glenheron-for-25m-on-first-day-1.3462532