We bought a 4 bed detached house in Pembroke Woods, Passage West 2 1/2 years ago and it's appreciated by €200K in that time.
I know in the eyes of Cork natives Passage has a probably justified reputation for being rough, and a bit of a hive of republican activity. As an outsider, from Dublin I just see lots of as yet untapped potential.
1. There are a wide variety of of new developments coming on stream: the one oppostite the old Skoda garage; Sirius Heights past the church, which is really beautiful with views of the harbour and very reasonable; another development of high quality detached homes also past the church and a development of townhouses beside the million euro houses by the waterfront at the school.
2. There are plans afoot to demolish the dockyard and open the town up to the waterfront by developing a hotel, shops and boardwalk on the site.
3. Construction on a super-value supermarket is about to begin on the site of the old Skoda garage.
For me the most attractive point about living in Passage West is it's proximity to the water. There's a beautiful walk way along the old railway line from Passage all the way over to Mahon and into Blackrock.
It's true I would never eat out or go for drinks in Passage, but there's a lovely greengrocer, butcher, mini-market and off-licence for essentials... it's a quick hop to Douglas, Mahon or Carrigaline for anything else ...AND the people are VERY friendly! I had friends visiting from Belgium last week, they went to the village in their Irish rental car to pick up a few things, but apparently were driving very slowly. A man stopped them to ask if they were lost and if he could help - they were utterly charmed!!
So, in a nutshell, I think if you're looking for good capital appreciation on your investment, the Passage West market has a lot of legs left!
(Now wait for all the Corkonians to yell that I'm crazy!!
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