‘Holding in Coolycarney sells for over twice guide price’. Enniscorthy Guardian. 21/12/22.

A 14 acre holding in the Ballindaggin, area of County Wexford sold for over twice the guide price when it went under the auctioneers hammer.

The holding, located at Coolycarney, included a derelict residence and yard and was sold during an online auction overseen by Quinn Properties on Friday, December 16.

The auction was the final one for 2022 and according to auctioneers, David Quinn, it was eagerly anticipated and attracted a lot of interest from local farmers and business people, with around 15 registered bidders.

The property had a guide price of €12,000 per acre in advance of the auction and Mr Quinn said it was suitable for a range of farming enterprises. It was offered, initially, in four lots but in the end was sold in its entirety.

Lot 1, was 1 acre of land while Lot 2 incorporated 9.7 acres and the derelict property and yard with Lot 3 encompassing 3.3 acres. Lot 4 was the complete holding.

Bidding on Lot 1 opened at €5,000 and quickly rose as high as €11,000 and bidding on Lot 2 opened at €80,000, before reaching €130,000 after initial bidding.

Lot 3 started at €30,000 and finished at €60,000 after the first round of bidding which meant that a bid in excess of €201,000 was necessary for Lot 4, for it to remain an option.

However, Mr Quinn said it was immediately apparent there was strong interest in the entire holding with prompt bids of €221,000, €231,000, €236,000 and €241,000 being made.

As a gap had opened up between the entire and the separate lots, the auctioneer ran back through Lots 1 to 3 before taking instructions from his client.

A new bidder on Lot 1 brought the c.1 acre plot up to €13,000, while a flurry of additional bids on Lot 2 increased the offer on that to €200,000 for the c. 9.7 acres with derelict house and yard; there were no further bids on Lot 3.

When he returned to the auction room Mr Quinn opened bidding on the entire holding, which at that stage had to exceed the combined total of €273,000 to remain an option.

However, for the second time that day it was clear there was serious interest in Lot 4 as bidding very quickly jumped from €283,000 to €308,000.

The auctioneer gave the individual lots a chance to make up the lost ground, however, there were no further bids on Lots 1 and 2 resulting in Lots 1 to 3 then being withdrawn with the entire property, Lot 4, then placed on the market.

Three bidders were involved in a tight battle with Mr Quinn commenting “there was fierce competition until the end of the auction”.

Bidding resumed at €310,000 and continued to surge upwards before the auction ultimately saw the hammer drop at €360,000 which equated to €25,700 per acre.

It’s believed the purchaser is a local person with equestrian interests.

This article originally appeared in the Enniscorthy Guardian and was written by Brendan Keane. It can be accessed here.