‘A year of two halves’ - Keenan auctioneers

“Not to use clichés but it has been a year of two halves,” says Donal Keenan of Keenan Auctioneers, the Main Street business which includes Kingscourt Mart.

Donal runs the estate agency side of the business, while his sister Lisa Keenan is at the helm of the mart operation.

“The first half of the year with the first lockdown was very difficult – we were all adapting to that, so lots of challenges, doors completely shut. It was very difficult for both the mart and the estate agency side of the house.”

Donal is relieved to describe 2020 overall as “good”. The “bleak” first half resulted in pent-up demand being unleashed mid-year.

“There was a hell of a lot of demand,” he says more cheerfully. “As we got it on the market we were going 'sale agreed on it'. Semi-Ds around Kingscourt and little cottages out the country on an acre, all of that was in high demand.”

Of those interested in buying properties, Donal noted particular interest from Navan buyers.

“Property has become so expensive in Navan,” he says, opining that some were cashing in on the high prices in the Meath county town and getting better value for a fine house a short trip across the Cavan border in Kingscourt.

“It's 25 minutes to Navan, and we're in between the two motorways, the M3 and M2,” he says, adding, prices are therefore more attractive to buyers in Kingscourt than in either Virginia or Carrickmacross.

Fortunately the second Lockdown wasn't as restrictive for the estate agency side.

“For property it's egged us on to up our game in terms of video marketing,” he says. Emma O'Reilly, an intrinsic part of the team, takes a lead role in generating online promotions, video marketing and increasing the firm's social media presence.

“It helps people get a better feel for property before they come out,” Donal says of the stylish video showcases.

It has been well reported that buyers with mortgage approval had difficulty drawing down their loans if their employer was on the Wage Subsidy Scheme. He is sympathetic to those people, but suspects it had the effect of sharpening other potential buyers' focus.

“The flip side of that has been people reading those headlines and going, 'Okay I don't have a problem now, I have mortgage approval, let's move. Let's not sit on it.' I think that has motivated people to get going.”

The second lockdown of course saw buyers and sellers banned from their favourite ringside perch, and livestock sales conducted entirely online.

“Mart-wise it was very difficult. Lisa found it very challenging because you can't beat having buyers around the ring. Yeah, just you can't beat that as good as the online systems are, you need a few around the ring to keep things going,” he says, observing they are also at the mercy of broadband.

Setting up for online sales was a major investment, which should put them in good stead, and Donal is confident that “the future is a blend of the two”, in terms of bidding at the ring and remotely.

Keenan Auctioneers also utilised their new online system to conduct a public auction for three land parcels on the Shercock Road in September. With Lisa wielding the gavel, Donal reports it went “fairly well” with all three lots selling and one of the lots — 17 acres of farmland — selling for over €15,000 per acre.

When looking to the prospects of 2021 on the property side, Donal notes recent national headlines announcing a surge of mortgage approvals in October.

“We hope there won't be any significant drop-off in January February March, beyond that, who knows, we'll see.”

Yet, he is realistic. He notes the likely impact of the pandemic, compounded by Brexit, on the economy.

“If there's more people out of work, that's terrible anyway, but the mortgage pool is going to be smaller so we will have a knock-on effect,” he says.

“Again, around here, I don't think properties are overvalued. So I don't expect a big drop. Regardless, we’ll continue to adapt, get on with it, and do our best.”