Buying Swords

The average three-bed costs €240k there compared to €300k on the southside, according to a recent from Myhome.ie.

In fact you could buy a three-bed house in for the price of a two-bed apartment in its suburban southside equivalent.

There are also plenty of homes to choose from with around 120 listed for sale on as we went to press (March, 2015).

Many more are due to come on stream. "There's a huge amount of development. And they are all reasonably priced and geared towards first time buyers getting on the property ladder, " says Gillian McEnerney, manager of the local

Swords is an emerging city

Swords-based Fingal County Council sees Swords as an "emerging city", projecting that the town's population will rise to 100, 000 by 2035 - from 42, 738 in 2011.

As part of the plan, the area seems set to get its own version of the Luas –, but it is uncertain when this will be launched.

What has happened is a transformation of the town that in 2003 was labeled a litter blackspot. Since then the town has had a facelift and in 2012 Swords was named the third-best town in Ireland to live in.

"Swords has had a major upgrade, " says Gillian. "It's becoming a real community. A lot of money has gone into, for example, which will be the focus of our summer festival this year."

Swords for First Time Buyers

There are plenty of options for First Time Buyers in Swords. One-bed apartments cost from around €140k with €170k usually the minimum price tag for two beds

But First Time Buyers (FTB) don't have to buy apartments as they did eight or ten years ago in the hope that they could later trade up to a family home. "A First Time Buyer can now get a reasonably priced three-bedroom house in Swords that has the potential to be the family home, " Gillian advises.

Swords for families

Swords has plenty of reasonably-priced family homes – and lots of room for more to be built.

Three-bed semis are priced from around €235k upwards, with four-beds costing from €300k.

"Swords is also very well supplied both in terms of number and variety of schools, " says Gillian.

The area accounts for a quarter of all the secondary schools in North County Dublin listed .

One girls' school – – features among the top schools in Leinster, according to . This school is located in the Hilltown area, next to the Brookdale and River Valley Estates.

Swords for commuters

The big commuter issue concerning Swords is when and if will be built. This 18km project would, when built, whisk commuters into town in 30 minutes, regardless of traffic.

A slightly-scaled down version is now one of to link north County Dublin to town via the airport.

Whichever one is chosen, the end result will be a Luas-style service that will almost certainly include Swords. The proposed (from 2008) includes local stops at Seatown, Fosterstown and Estuary.

Swords is also 18km by road from O'Connell Street - or a 27-minute drive outside rush-hour.

There are five linking the northside village to the city centre – the 43 and 41 and 41b, c and x. The 102 links it to the airport and there are two routes towards, Skerries, Portrane and Balbriggan if you fancy a trip to the seaside.

Thinking of buying a house in Swords?

Before you go house hunting it's a good idea to get your mortgage arranged – or at least discussed so you know where you stand.

Get the ball rolling with our First Time Buyer and guides. You can also use our mortgage calculator to find out how much you may be able to borrow.

Why not pay us a visit on our for more great house-hunting tips, home living advice, or just for some general merriment?

Norca Ltd trading as EBS Swords is a tied mortgage agent acting solely on behalf of EBS d.a.c. EBS d.a.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

The content of this blog is expressed in broad terms and is limited to general information purposes only. Readers should always seek professional advice to address issues arising in specific contexts and not seek to rely on the information in this blog which does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by EBS d.a.c.

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