Daft Property - Irish Property News

Massive €1m slump in value of D6 houses should attract canny buyers There is strong anecdotal evidence that the decline is worse than official figures suggest... IN May 2008, blue-chip auctioneering firm Douglas Newman Good confidently sought offers in excess of €1.55m for a "well-proportioned, mid-terrace Victorian home" on Waverly Terrace at the end of Kenilworth Square North on Dublin's southside. Later this month two properties on the same leafy Rathgar street, both currently split into flats, will go under the hammer in a distressed properties sale. 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. It's a price drop of €1m in a little more than three years on properties that boast a revenue stream which should, on the face of it, attract canny investors who have cash. Rathgar remains a sought-after locale for young professionals who want to rent not far from th...

Number of homeowners in arrears soars to 50,000... THE number of homeowners in arrears on their mortgages has jumped by 5,100 to almost 50,000 in the first three months of the year. The arrears figure represents 6.3pc of the 782,429 residential mortgage accounts, according to the Central Bank. Meanwhile, another 36,600 homeowners, who are not in arrears, have made arrangements with their lender to reduce their repayments. This means that a total of 86,211 homeowners -- 11pc of all mortgage-holders -- were struggling to meet their repayments in March, the Central Bank said. While the trend is worrying, eight out of every nine mortgage holders are still meeting their original repayment commitments. Frank Conway of personal finance website MoneyCoach added that although the growth in the arrears was unfortunate, there was no rapid deterioration in the rise in rate of arrears. "These latest statistics largely include the effects of the introduction of the universal socia...