Daft Property - Irish Property News

Thousands of 'ghost estate' residents will now fall into tax net... THOUSANDS of homeowners living in unfinished developments will be hit with property tax bills from the summer. People living in estates which were classed as "seriously problematic" just four months ago will be forced to pay the tax after the Department of the Environment decided they did not qualify for a waiver. Last year, some 1,322 housing estates containing 43,000 homes were considered exempt from the household charge because essential works needed to be carried out. The Government has now decided that just 421 estates, with about 5,100 households, will not have to pay the property tax. Housing Minister Jan O'Sullivan defended the move, saying that essential works, including public lighting, water treatment systems, roads and open spaces, had been provided in many estates since last summer. The reduction in those qualifying for a waiver showed that progress was being made in ta

Auctioneers to sell 14-house ghost estate in Co Kerry for just €50,000... DEPENDING on how deep your pockets are, you can pick up a ghost estate of 14 houses for only €50,000 or a Georgian House for €1m in the Allsop Space auction next month. A total of 90 properties are available at the event on July 6. Another unusual property on offer is Whites Castle, Athy, Co Kildare, a 15th century castle in the centre of the town, which also has a €50,000 guide price. The auctioneers are hoping to raise about €8m from the auction, which is below the €13m it achieved in its last auction in May. But then there are fewer lots this time and less valuable commercial properties. The ghost estate was conceived as a multi-million holiday home development at a pivotal point on Kerry's tourist trail. The 14-house lot at Annagh Banks in Castlemaine, Co Kerry, is about to be auctioned for only €50,000. It will be the first time that Allsop Space will include a full ghost estate as one lot at auction.

Mortgage misery index shows commuters' pain... DURING the Celtic Tiger era, the most high-profile example of how the country was finally wealthy was the booming numbers who constituted Ireland's 'rich list'. However, the new realities of post-boom Ireland are epitomised by a county-by-country breakdown of the numbers receiving Mortgage Interest Relief Supplement (MIRS), that has just been compiled by the Department of Social Protection. MIRS is a scheme whereby the Department of Social Protection pays the interest part of a mortgage when householders become unemployed and can no longer meet their payments. Such payments are supposed to be short term -- although in practice this is no longer the case -- and are meant only to cover the interest element of the mortgage. After a modest start to the scheme, the numbers availing of it -- and therefore its cost -- have almost quadrupled. Unsurprisingly, the department's figures indicate that the two counties wi

THE most comprehensive report on the Irish property market is out and it evidences the total destruction of wealth of a certain generation. According to the wonderfully detailed work done by Ronan Lyons at Daft.ie, asking prices countrywide fell by just over 4pc in the second three months of the year -- a slightly larger fall than in the first quarter. The average asking price nationally in the second quarter of 2010 was just over €224,000 -- 36pc below its 2007 peak. The acceleration in price falls will come as little surprise, but the question now is how can a generation whose balance sheet has been so totally vaporised ever start spending again? Back in 2007, I wrote a book called 'The Generation Game', which focused on how the generation between the ages of 30 and 40, who had got into the housing market via huge mortgages, would be financially eviscerated. This group was termed "the juggling generation" because they were trying to juggle being good parents and go

Not a single new home registered by Premier in January... THE private housing market could be in danger of grinding to a complete halt with one of the two home-registration firms in the country not registering a single house in January. The Irish Independent has learned that Premier Guarantee did not register a single housing unit in January, with its larger rival Homebond only registering 149 houses, including just 24 in Dublin. At the peak of the property market in 2006, Homebond was registering 6,122 houses a month or about 72,000 in a full year. Premier, the smaller of the two registration services, was registering about 2,117 houses per month, or almost 25,000 per annum. Of the 149 houses registered with Homebond in January, 62 were in Cork, 16 in Kildare and 24 in Dublin. In most of the other counties there were less than three houses registered, with many counties only registering a single house. One of the few things propping up the housing market now is one-off housing which o

Devastating 'pyrite epidemic' hits 20,000 newly built houses... UP to 20,000 homeowners are facing the devastating "pyrite problem" which is destroying recently built houses. The Irish Independent has learned that this many claims for pyrite-related damage, such as cracked floors and walls, have been made to the builders' insurance company HomeBond -- which may not have enough funds to cover the cost of all the claims. Its cash reserves have dropped from €50m in 2007 to €26m, according to its latest accounts, due to declining stock market returns. This means it would only be able to pay around €1,250 per household. The average cost of removing the pyrite from a house and repairing the damage is between €50,000 and €70,000. HomeBond only covers a portion of the cost if the builder is liquidated or unable to pay for all the repairs -- so families are facing potentially huge bills to repair their homes. The claims against HomeBond are separate to a landmark case pres

Boom buyers seethe as units now three for price of one... HOUSEHUNTERS in a busy commuter town can now get a two-bedroom apartment for just €110,000 -- a third of the original asking price. It's a case of 'three for the price of one' at the exclusive Capella Court apartments in Newbridge, Co Kildare. When the gated development first opened in 2007 -- buyers forked out prices starting at €322,000. Attractive But now they will be seething at the prospect that newcomers can buy three apartments for the money they handed over at the height of the boom. Residents at Capella Court who bought in 2007 will be paying three times the amount in monthly mortgage repayments of their new neighbours for apartments of the same size and specifications. The attractive price tag comes as receivers have been appointed to re-launch the apartments. Dwellings are finished inside and lighting, footpaths and landscaping are in place. The two-bedroom apartments are set to attract investors, with ave

Roll up for the great property giveaway... Agents say an estimated 24% drop in house prices is far too low... There were double-takes all round last Monday when the Permanent tsb /ESRI house price index announced a 24% drop since February 2007 – a figure many believe to be conservative in the extreme. It's difficult to find out exactly what a property sells for as, under the Data Protection Act, publication of selling prices is prohibited and information is therefore based on asking price. Those involved in the business believe a truer estimate of just how far property prices have plummeted is between 40% and 50%. And counting. Ronan O'Driscoll, director of new homes at Savills, points to "the concrete example" of his own home. "I bought it for €1.9m in 2006, but one on the same road sold recently for around €850,000." The new homes landscape has changed radically in ways other than price, he adds, saying that negotiating a deal on a brand-new property is no

THE average price of a house in Ireland is now €70,000 less than at the peak of the property boom, according to new figures. Dublin and commuter belt homeowners have been particularly badly hit by the ongoing downturn in house prices. The latest Permanent tsb/ESRI monthly figures on house sales show the average price of a house nationally in June was just over €240,000. This is down from €311,000 in February 2007 when the market peaked. In Dublin, the average price of a home is now just under €320,000. This is a drop of over 15pc on the same time last year, considerably worse than the 10pc average fall outside of the capital. It is expected that the trend will continue for the immediate future, said a spokesperson for Permanent TSB. "The index today confirms the pattern of recent months. Poor demand and significant oversupply have combined to cancel out the benefits of lower interest rates to mean that prices continue to weaken. This pattern is likely to persist for some time,&qu

How Low Dare You Go? ...With few property deals being done and prices in freefall , many vendors are wondering what their bottom line should be to get a sale... House prices are sliding – and fast. Yet while most vendors now accept that they have to cut prices in order to tempt buyers, despite all the potential bargains on the market, statistics suggest that buyers are still deterred. Lack of liquidity, the prospect of further price falls, job losses and a worsening economic climate are taking its toll. In 2007, 158,000 people drew down mortgage loans. Frank Conway of the Irish Mortgage Corporation suggests this is down by as much as 36% this year – so far. According to Sherry FitzGerald's latest House Price Index prices have fallen by 26% since their peak in June 2006, with prices down by as much as 32.8% in Dublin. At the lower end of the market, vendors slashing €60,000, €70,000, €80,000 off the price of their property is common. High-end homes have been reduced by hundreds of t

It's changing times for Dublin City... " Dublin's last iconic factory to become real estate After 249 years, tracts of the brewery are to be sold to developers . THE SIGHTS, sounds and smells of the Guinness brewery at St James's Gate in Dublin have been part and parcel of the Liberties for nearly 250 years - ever since Arthur Guinness himself first secured a 9,000-year lease on four acres of ground in 1759 for an annual rent of £45, including water rights. The brewery has expanded substantially since then and now occupies 64 acres on either side of Thomas Street, stretching down to Victoria Quay on the River Liffey. It was from here that the Guinness barges transported kegs of stout downriver to the Lady Patricia and Lady Gwendolyn, moored at City Quay. The vast brewery has its own theatre and swimming pool, as well as the tracks of a narrow-gauge railway that once served the site. It still has its own power station to fuel the production of over 50 million barrels (n

Dubliners are bracing themselves for further flooding as heavy downpours are predicted in the coming days. The news comes as residents in many parts of the capital are today coming to terms with the damage wreaked by Saturday's intense rainfall. Met Eireann says heavy and thundery rain is likely in Leinster tonight, with flooding a real possibility in many areas. And the outlook for the coming days does not look much better, with heavy rain predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, a senior Dublin City Council official has admitted the capital's drainage system cannot cope with the "freak" rainfall which occurred over the weekend. Rainfall City engineer Tom Leahy said the system was designed to deal with normal or even heavy rainfall. "It cannot deal with these extreme events," Mr Leahy said today. A top climate expert warned that Dubliners will have to get used to the heavy rainfall and flash floods that hit the city on Saturday. Dr John Sweeney of NU