Daft Property - Irish Property News

COUNTRY buyers with cash in their pockets have been trawling Dublin for homes for their college-bound children in the past few weeks – and many will be closing on deals next week, when CAO offers come out. But with the property market in the state it’s in, there’s a lot on offer that could interest investors, ranging from a city centre two-bedroom apartment in the appropriately named College Gate development near Trinity for €190,000 to an eight-bedroom guest-house in Ranelagh for €735,000. Buying a house or apartment to house one or more third-level offspring is cheaper than paying rents – if you don’t have to borrow – especially as prices continue to fall in the city while rents have stabilised, according to the latest Daft report. However, Moneycoach.ie’s Frank Conway sounds a cautionary note about investing in property for your student children: if you don’t have the cash to pay for it “the chances of securing finance is very, very low” he says. “This will rule the majority

Glut of properties drives down rents. RENTAL prices are set to fall in the coming months after a glut of extra properties were put on the market. New figures showed that the number of properties available to rent has shot up by a third since May. Overall rent levels across the country have not moved for a year, but economists predict they may fall in the coming months because of the greater number of properties on the market. The average monthly rent for a house or apartment is €823, a new Daft.ie survey showed. Rents fell by a quarter at the start of 2007, but have since stabilised and are not changing from one month to the next. Owners reacted to rents remaining static by putting more vacant properties into the rental market, Daft.ie economist Ronan Lyons said. The figures came as the scramble for third-level students to find accommodation begins. The total number of properties available to rent in Ireland's five major cities rose from 6,000 in May to 8,000 at the