In what he described as a ‘good battle’ Athy auctioneer Joe McDonnell sold a 19.5ac Ballylinan residential farm under the hammer at €366,000 in the past week.
It exceeded its guide price by €116,000 and achieved a very strong €18,769/ac.
Located just off the N78 at Rahin, Ballylinan in Co Laois, the farm is and 1km from Ballylinan and 6km from Athy.
It consists of 19.5ac of tillage and grazing land in four fields, with one of the fields in a crop of barley.
The residence is a three-bedroom traditional farmhouse in need of complete renovation while the yard is made up of an array of old-style sheds and farming facilities.
The land has plenty of road frontage and the homestead is reached by a distinctive tree lined avenue.
At a crammed auction in the Clanard Court Hotel, Mr McDonnell got proceedings under way when he accepted a bid of €200,000.
Six interested parties were involved in what Mr McDonnell described as “a good battle”.
In strong early bidding the price rose quickly, beyond its guide of €250,000.
At €330,000 the pace slackened and followed in bids of €1,000.
The bidding continued at a pedestrian pace until the hammer fell at €366,000.
The property was bought by a local buyer.
Demand
Mr McDonnell was delighted with the sale saying it showed a strong local demand for a farm of this size suitable for a variety of farming activities, including equestrian.
“You never know how things will go until the day, but there was a lot of interest in the property,” Mr McDonnell said.
The land sold well in excess of the current going rate of around €10,000 per acre, for agricultural land.
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