The hammer fell at €405,000 to a charged online auction room on Wednesday 27 May, when a 14ac parcel of land originally guided in excess of €10,000/ac sold at just under €29,000/ac.
Having not been farmed in recent years, the land at Scarnagh Lower, Coolgreany, Co Wexford was described as requiring some drainage and improvement work.
However, the good quality of the surrounding grassland gave an indication of the plot’s potential.
Following significant pre-auction interest, auctioneer David Quinn of Quinn Property anticipated strong competition, and he wasn’t wrong.
On the day, there were 13 active bidders. Only a third were farmers; the rest came from business backgrounds.
Opening at €100,000, seven bidders quickly pushed the price past €200,000. By €240,000, this had whittled down to two bidders, who continued the rapid shot bidding.
New bidder
A new bidder entered the fray at €320,000 and the battle forged ahead. There was a pause at €395,000 and the hammer went up, but a last-second bid of €400,000 resumed proceedings.
One further bid was enough to secure the property at €405,000, with the buyer being a Wexford-based businessman.
According to David Quinn, it was this interest from commercially-minded bidders that caused the price elevation. He said: “When we guided it at €10,000/ac, it was based on the amount of investment a farmer would have to put in to get it back into grassland. As it turned out, the way the interest came in, that was irrelevant.”
With several disappointed underbidders left in the wake of the auction, David Quinn is keeping a keen eye out for anyone looking to sell similar land in the area.
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