Annette Rocca says she is looking forward to beginning “a new chapter” after selling the luxury home she shared with her late husband, the tile tycoon Patrick Rocca.
The Castleknock home was originally put on the market more than a year ago with an asking price of €2.495m.
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In recent days Ms Rocca signed a deal for €2m. The sale will close in August.
“We have had many happy years in this house,” said Annette, who shares the home with her two sons.
“We are looking forward to starting a new chapter and moving on with our lives.
“We have lived there for 24 years and it was wonderful but now it’s time for a new family to move in.”
With its own tennis courts, an acre of private grounds and its own leisure centre, which includes a private indoor heated swimming pool, a gym, a five-seater Canadian hot tub Jacuzzi and a four-seater sauna, the home is at the top end of Ireland’s luxury property market.
The house is surrounded by professionally manicured gardens and has a pillared porch and double door entrance leading into a grand hall with a sweeping staircase.
But as many homes at the top end of the market have failed to attract their asking price over the past 18 months, Annette is advising others to stay optimistic.
“I would say ‘hang in there’. It will happen for you but it’s a very slow process. It’s important to stay positive and not let yourself get upset about it. It just takes time.”
The price of luxury homes in Dublin fell by 2.8pc in 2018, the second decline since 2013, as the high-end homes market continues to be hit by Brexit uncertainty.
An increase in the number of properties coming to the market has also been blamed for the lack of sales, while myhome.ie attributes the flattening to unrealistic asking prices, along with the Central Bank’s lending rules.
According to the Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index, which tracks prices of high-end properties across 43 global markets, prices in Dublin fell by 2.8pc in the 12 months to December, and by 0.6pc in the last three months of the year.
Other cities where the prices of prime residential homes dipped include London, down 4.4pc, Dubai, which fell by 3.4pc, and New York, down 2.5pc.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, the Central Bank warned that a disorderly Brexit could create a double hit to property prices, due to a rise in unemployment among owner-occupiers and the potential for quick sales by cuckoo funds which have snapped up huge numbers of properties.
The bank’s financial stability report yesterday advised that the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal would shave six percentage points off economic growth over two years.
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