Daft Property - Irish Property News

Taxpayers are forking out more than €1 million per year on bills such as electricity, gas, security and insurance to keep the lights on at the unfinished €170 million Kilternan Hotel and Country Club in Co Dublin. Irish Nationwide, under former chief executive Michael Fingleton, lent publican Hugh O’Regan €170 million to develop the hotel, but he ran out of money before it was finished. The project went into receivership in 2009. The receiver’s reports show that, over a 12-month period, the unfinished and empty hotel cost €270,000 to insure, €80,000 in ESB bills, €85,000 in gas bills to heat and €155,000 on security. There was also €200,000 spent on consultants, a further €110,000 on legal fees and €71,000 in receiver fees. The company filings show that the firm behind the ill-fated development received more than €1 million from the state-owned Irish Nationwide during the period to meet these ongoing costs. Its sole revenue is €30,000 in rental income. The receiver to Dashaven ...

Prices could fall by a further 15% if rate of decline continues into next year... ANALYSIS: Oversupply, the lack of mortgage financing and the cost of borrowing are all playing a part as property prices continue to decline THE GOOD news on the property market: July’s monthly fall in homes prices was the second smallest this year. The bad news: a single month is not enough to suggest that the deteriorating trend over the course of 2011 has been arrested. The average monthly fall in prices over the first seven months of this year was 1.4 per cent. The average of the 12 months of 2010 was 0.9 per cent. The accelerating underlying rate of price declines up to the middle of this year is cause for concern. And delving deeper into yesterday’s figures gives no reason to believe any segment of the market has been immune. The chart shows declines in prices from January to July ranged from 6-11 per cent. That has added to the already massive declines registered among every market segmen...

Mortgage rescue deal could cost you up to €50,000... But it is still only option for thousands. STRUGGLING homeowners who make deals with lenders to reduce their mortgage payments face paying tens of thousands of euro in extra interest charges. New figures show that almost 70,000 people have now restructured their mortgages -- mostly by extending the repayment period or switching to 'interest only' payments. The Irish Independent can reveal that those with a typical €200,000 home loan who extend their mortgage term by just five years face paying €34,000 more in interest charges. And borrowers could end up paying more than €50,000 in extra interest for the same €200,000 mortgage. The startling figures have been produced by personal finance expert Brendan Burgess. They reveal the huge long-term costs for families seeking to ease the burden. But the Central Bank, which has been leading the way on policies to ease the mortgage crisis, admitted it had "no figures...

Derelict properties add to Dublin's poor litter rating... A POOR showing for Dublin city has spoiled the latest anti-litter league which shows the best State-wide results since 2002. According to the survey, commissioned by Irish Business Against Litter, much of the capital is “as littered as it has been in many years”. While the State generally achieved the highest level of cleanliness since monitoring by the business group began a decade ago, “derelict and vacant” properties contributed to the capital’s poor showing. Parts of Cork also fared badly in the survey, with the Knocknaheeny area of the city being placed joint bottom of the league with Dublin’s north inner city. The survey named individual stores across the State where it said there was excessive litter. These included Tesco in New Ross and Mallow, and McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut in Sligo. Several public buildings were also heavily littered, including Galway’s Merlin Park Hospital. Sweet wrappers were the m...

They presided over the crash -- but no one was ever fired. An "endemic culture of rewarding failure" in Ireland has meant that not one person in the Department of Finance, the Central Bank or the Financial Regulator's office has been sacked for their role in the worst financial and economic crisis in history. While their former political masters in Fianna Fail were slaughtered at the polls in February, it has been confirmed to this newspaper this weekend that not a single official or adviser was laid off for their failure either to adequately prepare for the crash, or for their failure to deal swiftly with it when it happened. "Nobody in the Department of Finance has been fired since January 2008," a spokeswoman told the Sunday Independent. Friends First chief economist Jim Power said that while many of those who were in key positions during the crash have since moved on or retired, their departure has come at a significant cost to the taxpayer. "...

Morgan Kelly predicts further unforseen losses for banks... Kelly warns billions owed by small number of big developers UCD economist Morgan Kelly has predicted that bad debts of a small number of wealthy buy-to-let property investors could lead to previously unforeseen losses for the banks. Professor Kelly claims this group could cause major problems, even if the overall number of people not repaying home loans does not rise drastically. However, Prof Kelly, who is renowned for his doom-laden analysis of the housing market, admitted he had no idea how big the resulting losses could be if these 'super-investors' cannot repay their loans. Prof Kelly, who forecast the original property bust, says in a new academic paper that many wealthy buy-to-let property investors have multiple loans and if they get into trouble that losses will be magnified. In the paper, published on the UCD website, the economist said there could be as few as 2,000 mortgages of more than €1m tak...

Government won't write off struggling homeowners' debt... THE Government is not considering a 'debt-forgiveness' scheme to write off billions of mortgage debt for struggling homeowners, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore confirmed yesterday. The comments came as public demand grows for a mass mortgage write-off. One homeowners' group is claiming 60,000 people face losing their homes unless a solution to the mortgage crisis is found. The clamour follows last week's claim by renowned economist Morgan Kelly that a debt-forgiveness scheme to rescue those in severe difficulty with their mortgages would cost just €5bn or €6bn. But Mr Gilmore yesterday moved to calm growing expectations that a scheme was imminent, saying the Government was not considering "some kind of blanket write-off or mortgage debt forgiveness, as is being suggested by some". It is understood that many senior cabinet figures, including Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure...

Here is the online Catalogue for the latest Allsop Space Auction which takes place on 23rd September 2011 at The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. There are 74 Lots sorted by Lot Number... Lot Number - Lot Type - Location - Reserve Price: 1 Investment Flat Dublin 1 €90,000 2 Leasehold Flat Co. Dublin €130,000 3 Vacant Flat Blackrock €185,000 4 Vacant Flat Howth €150,000 5 Vacant Flat Galway City €90,000 6 Leasehold Flat Dublin 1 €150,000 7 Leasehold Flat Dublin 8 €74,000 8 Vacant Freehold House Clara €30,000 9 Vacant Leasehold House Renvyle €90,000 10 Vacant Flat Blackrock €240,000 11 Investment Freehold House Loughrea €98,000 12 Vacant Freehold House Lackagh €122,500 13 Vacant Freehold Building Fermoy €300,000 14 Vacant Freehold House Ballyjamesduff €50,000 15 Leasehold Flat Dublin 1 €65,000 16 Investment Flat Dublin 8 €92,000 17 Vacant Freehold Building Gorey €50,000 18 Investment Freehold Building Rathgar €240,000 19 Investment Freehold Building Rathgar €380,000 2...

New property fire sale next month... Two period houses in Rathgar and a six-bedroom house on one of the leafiest roads on Dublin’s northside are likely to be among the most sought after properties going under the hammer at the Allsop/Space auction next month. The auction of distressed properties, the third to take place in Dublin since April, will be held in the Shelbourne Hotel on Friday September 23rd. There will be 74 residential and commercial properties across the country on offer. The two Rathgar houses are currently split into flats. One of the houses will have a reserve which will not exceed €240,000 while a neighbouring house has had its maximum reserve set at €380,000. At the height of the boom, houses on the road were routinely priced at over €1.5 million. A six-bedroom, three-storey house on Alphonsus Road in Drumcondra has a reserve which will not to exceed €295,000. It is located not far from an Iona Road property which proved to be the most sought after lot in th...

Ahern and Cowen handled the Irish economy like 'intoxicated joyriders'... FORMER Taoisigh Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen handled the Irish economy like "intoxicated joyriders" before it collapsed, a leading academic has said. Dr Ed Walsh, the University of Limerick's founding president, also launched a blistering broadside against the public sector as he delivered the annual Michael Collins oration at Beal na mBlath in Co Cork. He described it as "flabby and over-paid" as well as "antiquated and dysfunctional". And Dr Walsh said that the current Government had to reverse a ludicrous situation whereby Ireland had allowed its basic jobseekers' allowance to be greater than the average industrial wage of most EU accession states. "The crisis that is convulsing Europe has its origins in the partisan management of the euro currency from the outset. Sustained low interest rates to facilitate a dominant Germany in the process of reunif...

Mortgage forgiveness 'would cost €6bn'... A debt forgiveness scheme to relieve homeowners in mortgage distress would cost “in the region of €5-€6 billion”, UCD professor of economics Morgan Kelly has said. In a keynote address to the Irish Society of New Economists in Dublin yesterday, Prof Kelly delivered what he described as some “good news”. “We are talking sums in the region of €5 billion to €6 billion which would be necessary to spend on mortgage forgiveness, which by our standards are not very large,” he said. “This sum to sort out tens of thousands of people with big problems does not seem enormous.” Prof Kelly, who has been praised for forecasting the property crash, has also provoked sharp criticism from some commentators for his analysis of the recession. “The good news is that if you leave investment mortgages out [of total mortgages owed], which are largely the banks’ problem, and look at mortgages people have on their own houses, there are about €55 bil...

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...

IT could be years before the mortgage market recovers, economists said yesterday. They were reacting to new figures that showed just a trickle of new home loans were issued between April and June. Mortgage lending has seized up, with just 3,550 new mortgages granted in April, May and June. This is half the number issued in the same quarter a year ago, and a fraction of the 41,000 issued in the same three-month period in 2007, figures from the Irish Banking Federation show. Housing economist David Duffy, of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), said the mortgage market is unlikely to recover until consumers had some certainty about the financial hit they are set to take in December's Budget. "We are looking at a fairly weak market this year and next year unless something big happens which can bring about certainty," Dr Duffy said. Uncertainty around the global economy is also holding back buyers from committing to a massive purchase like a house. ...

Real austerity brings inclusivity, inspiration and invention... CULTURE SHOCK: The Cultúrlann in Derry has been shortlisted for the architectural Oscars, the Stirling Prize. With its modest design, it shows good aesthetics make for good politics. Photo - Irish Times MODESTY AND restraint are not the virtues one associates with Irish culture in the Celtic Tiger years. But one of the finest pieces of contemporary Irish design is brilliant in part because it is contained, understated, and so supremely self-confident that it doesn’t have to shout. John Tuomey and Sheila O’Donnell’s Cultúrlann building in Derry is on the shortlist for the architectural Oscars, the Stirling Prize. I was in it for the first time last weekend and it deserves all the praise and prizes it can get. Apart from its own merits, it points towards a kind of genuine austerity aesthetic, a way for Irish art to be modest and serious without being dull and impoverished. The Cultúrlann is the baby of the Stirling s...

House prices ‘could fall by 67% from peak’... INTERNATIONAL credit ratings agency, Fitch Ratings has warned of "further downside risks" to Irish house prices; adding that prices could ultimately fall by 67% from peak levels in a worst-case scenario. In a new report on the Irish housing market, Fitch said it realistically expects prices to show a total drop of 50% from their peak around four years ago. However, it added that while that rate of decline forms "the most likely scenario", a worst-case scenario would result in a full-term 67% drop in house prices. "Irish house prices continued declining during 2010 and now are approximately 42% below the peak. "In light of the oversupply of properties and continued restricted credit availability, the agency sees further downside risks to Irish house prices and as a result, Fitch now expects a peak-to-trough house price decline of approximately 50% as the most likely scenario," said Ketan Thaker, sen...

Economist reveals appalling vista of bankrupt and beleaguered Republic... THE EURO ZONE debt crisis will be solved “eventually” as it is to Germany’s benefit to remain in the euro, UCD economist Morgan Kelly has said. Delivering the Hubert Butler Lecture at the Kilkenny Arts Festival on Saturday, Kelly predicted very large European Central Bank loans to Ireland, Spain and Italy. Even if the Republic were to receive favourable terms, “deep problems in Ireland remain”, he added. In an hour-long address, Kelly also predicted that Irish debt will approach €250 billion by 2015, €50 billion more than Coalition estimates, and has said there was “no way we can repay that”. He also warned that the losses in the Irish banks would be much greater than predicted, reaching €100 billion rather than the €60 billion estimated. The academic, who has been praised widely for forecasting the depth of the recession, has recently warned of an impending mortgage default crisis and on Saturday descr...

Nama declines to issue list of art collections to be auctioned... A NUMBER of valuable artworks seized by the National Asset Management Agency from property developers are to be put up for auction in the coming months. However, Nama has declined to provide a list of the art collections it has acquired, saying only that it was “keenly interested in getting best prices for the works”. Last month, the agency published a list of assets it had for sale but it made no reference at that time to the various art collections seized from developers who own billions to the banks. While the agency will not name the individuals involved, it has already seized the art collection of Derek Quinlan – a former tax inspector turned property speculator, and resident of Shrewsbury Road, Dublin 4 – who moved to Switzerland in 2009. It is expected other collections assembled during the boom will come under Nama’s control in the months and years ahead as the assets of other developers and companies a...

Austerity has failed, eurozone on brink... Expert calls for Euro cord to be cut as world financial crisis rages. MINISTER for Finance, Michael Noonan, yesterday sought to 'spin' what he called "positive developments for Ireland" arising out of the greatest financial crisis in the history of the world. But as the minister, who insists he is "most definitely not on holiday", tried to present an upside for Ireland to the global disaster, the austerity policies embraced by the Government, and Europe have been deemed an absolute failure. "They simply aren't working," one expert said. Professor Ray Kinsella also said that Ireland should now withdraw from the eurozone -- which many political and financial analysts worldwide believe to be at "serious risk" of collapse. These experts also say that the only alternative to a eurozone break-up is closer fiscal union which, they predict, will herald even more severe austerity measures....

Euro dream threatens to become nightmare... ANALYSIS: LAST WEEKEND the world’s attention was on Washington DC as America’s politicians peered into the abyss of sovereign default. On Sunday they stepped back. This weekend attention is on Rome and Madrid. Politicians in those two capitals are sliding towards the same abyss. But there is a big difference between the US and the Mediterranean countries. In America, that country’s leaders walked voluntarily to the edge of the chasm for political reasons. They were not beaten to that point by the bond market. Political leaders in Italy and Spain are in an altogether more difficult position. They are being propelled towards the precipice because confidence in their economies is draining away. They are clutching desperately for something to halt the slide. But it appears ever less likely that they can save themselves. With each passing week it seems increasingly clear that Europe is coming to a fork in the road: one route leads to deepe...

Euro crisis to freeze mortgage rate for year... HOMEOWNERS will be spared mortgage increases for up to a year -- but face heavy losses in the value of their pensions as markets plunged all over the world. The deepening euro crisis means interest rates are unlikely to rise for another year -- a reprieve for those on tracker mortgages. But the short-term relief could be seriously offset by the decline in the value of pensions and investments. They were worth hundreds of billions less after all the main European markets crashed by between 3pc and 4pc. US markets also closed well down - at 4.8pc - last night. And there are fears even more losses could pile up later today. The European Central Bank (ECB) left its key interest rate unchanged and gave no signal of an imminent rise at its monthly meeting in Frankfurt. Markets reacted by betting there would now be no further rate rise until well into 2013 -- as the euro crisis means the ECB cannot raise rates due to the fragile ...

Revenue targets landlords in rental income crackdown... TAX officials are making door-to-door checks in estates across the country to see if landlords are paying all their taxes. Revenue officials are focusing on estates where there is known to be a high level of rented properties in the new clampdown on landlords. They are probing landlords who have buy-to-lets to see if they are making the correct tax claims on their rental returns and to see if they are registered with the State as landlords. It is part of an overall investigation by Revenue Commissioner officials into the black economy, the Irish Independent understands. There are fears that many buy-to-let landlords do not register with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), accept cash in rent and do not make tax returns. It recently emerged that the State paid more than €250m last year to thousands of unregistered landlords. Half of the landlords who get rent supplement payments -- which can be as high as ...

NAMA's fire sales show cruel reality... WHEN NAMA put for sale signs on hundreds of the properties in its extensive portfolio last week, it gave a glimpse of the abyss into which the Irish property market has fallen. But it really was no more than that - a mere glimpse into the as yet uncharted depths of a catastrophe that has the potential to devour the country's economy and impose penury on the population. On Thursday, NAMA announced its first set of annual accounts, which showed the ' bad bank' made a loss of €1.18 billion - that's one thousand and eighteen million - last year. The good news though is that it's mostly a 'paper' loss - we might not really be down by that much, it just depends on how the property market fares over the next few years. Given that the value of property in Ireland declined by a massive 2.1 per cent in July alone, there's not much reason to be overly optimistic there though. At the same time as announcing its annua...

Nama proposes negative equity scheme... Nama is proposing a deferred payment scheme to protect property buyers against the risk of negative equity in an attempt to kick-start the property market. The agency wants to introduce a scheme where Nama would waive 20 per cent of the purchase price on one of its 8,000 Irish residential properties after five years if the property were to fall further in value. Customers will deal with the banks on the scheme and will have no engagement with Nama. Chairman Frank Daly said the agency was in talks with the Minister for Finance and the Department of the Environment about the agency’s proposals. “We are teasing this through. We want to analyse the full impact of it and we would hope to make an announcement early after the summer,” he said at the launch of the agency's 010 annual report. The State loans agency, set up to take the most toxic assets out of the banking system, has loans on its books linked to 12,000 houses and apartments...

300,000 are 'wiped out' by the recession... THE average Irish person is now about 30 per cent worse off than they were before the recession, a startling new report has found. The report, by economist consultants at Indecon, also found that almost 300,000 people had been wiped out financially over the last four years. These 300,000 people have seen their incomes plummet by about 50 per cent because most of them were in well-paid full-time jobs in 2007 but are now relying on the dole after the recession forced them out of their jobs. The report, which was given exclusively to the Sunday Independent, is the first to examine the toll of the recession on the everyday finances of ordinary people. Its findings come in the wake of Environment Minister Phil Hogan's decision to hit most homeowners with a €100 household charge and a new Government plan to slash the pay rates of tens of thousands of future workers in areas such as catering, hotels, retail and hairdressing. ...