What a nearby sale really tells you

A useful figure still needs context

“The house down the road made that.” It is a fair enough starting point for a conversation. It is not the end of a valuation. Two properties can share a townland and have quite different access, condition, accommodation, legal interests, or buyer appeal.

The Residential Property Price Register records residential transactions reported for stamp duty purposes. Its own information note flags transactions which do not represent the full market price and explains that new-property entries should be exclusive of VAT (PSRA, n.d.). A figure should therefore be checked before it is compared with another.

Compare the things buyers are actually buying

Begin with the property interest and the date. Then consider location, size, layout, condition, site characteristics, services, occupation, and any material constraints. A renovated home and a property requiring extensive work need more than a quick price-per-square-metre comparison.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) guidance emphasises the selection and assessment of comparable evidence, including the reliability of its sources (RICS, 2023). The practical point is straightforward: more entries do not necessarily mean better evidence. A smaller set of well-understood transactions may tell us more.

Explain differences rather than hide them

Imagine two houses with similar floor areas. One has a straightforward layout and a usable garden. The other has a large addition, but limited natural light and awkward access. Applying an identical rate to each square metre would miss much of what a buyer is considering.

Adjustments should have a reason. A neat spreadsheet can make a judgment look more precise than the evidence allows. If a difference cannot be quantified confidently, say so and explain how it affected the weight given to that sale.

An asking price is another kind of evidence. It shows a seller’s current position in the market. It does not establish the price at which an informed buyer and seller completed a transaction.

Keep a record of the reasoning

A useful comparable schedule records the source, relevant date, important characteristics, and the reason for including each property. It should distinguish confirmed information from assumptions. Where the local market is thin, explain the wider search area or period and the limitations that follow.

For an owner, the most useful question is not simply how many comparables appear in the report. Ask why those comparables were selected and how the differences were treated. A valuation should make that reasoning available to the reader. The evidence is doing the work; the table is only helping us show it.