Renewed interest in Irish trophy homes

Dublin

IN a wealthy fishing village in Dublin, the Irish trophy home is making a comeback.

From the top of a hill close to the Irish Sea in Howth, developer Joe Cosgrave watches his team of construction workers racing to finish the granite-framed doorways and vast walk-in wardrobes at the country's first luxury home development since the bursting of a property bubble in 2008.

So far, he has sold nine of the Thormanby Hill houses, which have a price tag of about 1.5 million euros (S$2.2 million).

"The money was always there, but the confidence wasn't," said Mr Cosgrave, a silver-haired 56-year-old. "People have the confidence to go out and buy again."

Mr Cosgrave is banking on the return of wealthy buyers who can afford trophy properties in the wake of the worst real estate crash in Western Europe, with Thormanby Hill testing a market still in recovery. While foreigners and returning Irish emigrants have accounted for luxury home purchases since the cr…