Hundreds of house-hunters queued from 6am yesterday, with €5,000 each in booking deposits, to become the first purchasers at the new Adamstown development, near Lucan, Co Dublin.
Estate agents Gunne had the potential to take in €1.65 million in deposits from the 330 homes that went on sale yesterday at prices starting from €280,000 for a one-bed apartment and from €520,000 for a four-bedroom house. By lunchtime it appeared that they were well on target, with more than 500 interested parties having collected tickets to join the sales queue.
Despite the gap between numbers queuing and houses available, everyone who turned up yesterday would get a home, Shane Daly of Gunne said. "We'll deal with the 330 homes first, but we will release more if demand warrants it."
Most of those queuing were young couples very eager to get on the property ladder. They were largely impressed with the development in terms of the schools and leisure facilities planned, but some still had their reservations about the development.
"We're renting near here at the moment, and it takes me one-and-a-half hours to get to work in Ballsbridge, so I'm worried that the traffic will be even worse when there are so many more people here," said Jadwiga Kasiarz from Poland who was buying a house with her partner, Cormac Murphy, who travels to the north side of Dublin to work.
A new train station is scheduled to open in March 2007. However the frequency of trains is still to be decided by Iarnród Éireann.
Sarah Clarke, who intended to buy a three-bed duplex with her partner Darren Redmond, was impressed by the light and space in the units but was concerned that they might not keep their value. "There are going to be so many houses coming on the market here over the next few years, that you would be concerned that overall prices could fall."
Anne-Marie Breen, an architect who was buying a three-bedroom house, said the houses were very well designed and finished, but was concerned that too many of the units would be rented.
"I see that they are trying to weed out investors by only allowing one property per buyer, but I would be concerned that too many people would use them as investment properties."
The first properties will be available for occupation from June and the first primary school will open in September 2007. Some 10,000 houses will be built.
