WEALTHY IRISH EXECUTIVES are returning to Ireland to take advantage of the lower property prices and bag themselves a trophy house according to property experts.

Savills Ireland said many of these ex-pats, who have been living abroad for between five and 15 years, chose not to buy property during the boom because “they could see how ridiculous the prices were.”

The property expert said that within the last 18 months they have sold 3 houses to ex-pats in one terrace alone in Blackrock with one buyer returning from London, another from Singapore and the third from Spain.

Janet Carroll of Savills said “Typically theses buyers are looking for large homes in the €800,000-€1.5 million bracket, with a smaller group looking for homes in the €2 million plus bracket. Interestingly, as a result of this phenomenon, there is actually a shortage of properties in these price brackets.”

One of the main reasons being given for returning to Ireland is education as the cost of third level education in countries like the UK and US increase.

The property consultants said that schools and colleges to a large degree determine where the returning Irish buyers choose to locate with locations such as Blackrock, Monkstown and Foxrock scoring high.

Another reason given by the returning Irish buyers was the quality of life which they still feel is “good compared to other countries” despite the economic downturn.

Savills said these buyers are usually senior executives who have done well abroad and are cash buyers so they are not depending on bank lending and can take advantage of currency conversion rates.