Daft Property - Irish Property News

Reality of the market has yet to hit property brochures... It’s almost  the end of 2012  and let’s face it, the property market is all about reality these days…some would say grim reality so why haven’t some estate agents tempered the grandiose  language in their brochures to reflect the general mood, one wonders?  It’s supposed to be a new era of transparency following the introduction of the  Property Services Regulation Act 2011 so shouldn’t that involve a rethink on the adjective  count  in the average brochure? Take for example the use, or misuse,  of the word “residence”  which seems to apply to  the  pokiest townhouse and  modest three-bed semi. While referring to a small house as a residence  isn’t wrong exactly, it is a tad misleading, or it would be if you couldn’t see the photos. Maybe the hope is if they use the word often enough it will subliminally trick the buyer into thinking  they are buying Do...

Apartments and swish redbricks on offer in third mass auction. The latest sale of distressed property by Allsop Space takes place in Dublin tomorrow and interest is high... THE RESERVE prices are tantalisingly low but the line-up of property in the third Allsop/Space distressed auction tomorrow at Dublin’s Shelbourne hotel isn’t quite as stellar as for their previous sales. This time there are fewer headline-grabbing period houses on sought-after Dublin roads and more apartments and commercial buildings – at the last Allsop/Space auction in July two of the biggest sellers were a large period house on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4 and a redbrick on Iona Road in Glasnevin, Dublin 9 . “Every auction is different but we do try to balance the types of property,” says Robert Hoban, associate director of Space, who says there are “some nice redbricks in Dublin 6” in the auction. Of the 74 lots, more than half are in Dublin, with reserves low enough to entice investors out of the woodwo...

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. ...

Figures dispel myth that we're top home buyers in Europe... HOME ownership in Ireland is in line with the average in the European Union -- debunking the myth that home ownership here is among the highest in the EU. The Spanish, Greeks, Portuguese and people in a host of former Eastern Bloc states all have higher ownership levels than Ireland, figures obtained by the Irish Independent show. Some 74pc of Irish people own their own home. This is in line with the average for the 27 members of the EU. Ireland ranks 18th in home ownership levels out of 31 countries looked by the the EU statistics agency Eurostat. The figures are for 2009, the latest available. The highest home ownership is in Romania (96pc), followed by Lithuania (91pc), Hungary (89pc), Slovakia (89pc), Estonia (87pc), Latvia (87pc), Bulgaria (87pc), Norway (85pc), Iceland (84pc), Spain (83pc), Slovenia (81pc), Malta (79pc), Czech Republic (77pc) and Greece (76pc). Ireland comes in at 73.7pc, while 70pc of pe...

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...

With an oversupply of properties and tumbling prices, renting seems the way to go... IN THE Chinese calendar, 2009 is the year of the ox, but in Ireland it looks set to be the year of the renter. Economists are predicting that rents will drop by at least 10 per cent in the year ahead, compounding similar falls in 2008. Tenants are waking up to the fact that it’s a buyers’ market and negotiating lower rents and better conditions (see panel). In many cases, they are renting properties that they could never afford to buy. Large, luxurious homes are coming on to the rental market for the first time. Meanwhile, new standards are coming into force next month which will improve the quality of existing rental accommodation. Forget about grotty bedsits, coin-operated electricity meters and rent hikes – tenant power is in the ascendant. The downward pressure on rents has been caused primarily by a glut of properties flooding the market. Developers, buy-to-let investors and those trading up who f...

'No Irish need apply' - Polish builders get their own back... 'NO Irish need apply' - the signs are already going up on building sites abroad in a throwback to the grim days of the the last century. But this time they are starting to appear in Poland as that country takes its revenge for the way in which some unscrupulous Irish contractors treated their countrymen during the years of the Celtic Tiger. Trade union official Michael Kilcoyne - also president of the Consumers Association of Ireland - said it had recently been brought to his attention that the 'No Irish' signs had appeared on a couple of Polish building sites where workers were being sought. Mr Kilcoyne said: "The reality is that our international reputation as employers has been sullied. Many foreign people who have worked here, especially during our boom years, have had bad experiences. "The evidence of this is in the number of cases taken before the Labour Relations Commission over the l...

The grand house of cards comes tumbling down... The engine of the economic boom came grinding to a halt this year, but optimists hope the housing collapse is near bottom... MAYBE, JUST maybe, people will look back on 2008 as the year in which they should have bought property. A few years from now, when the economic gloom has lifted, today's prices - down as much as 40 per cent from the peak of 2006 - might seem like so many missed opportunities for first-time buyers and trader-uppers. If that sounds like something that a property journalist would say, then consider Warren Buffet's oft-quoted advice to investors: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." Right now, people in the Irish property market are very fearful. A combination of tumbling prices, banks refusing to lend and fast-eroding job security has created an atmosphere in which people are afraid to commit to buying even a sofa, never mind a home. "It's carnage out th...

Dublin 4 property market to float — with houseboats... The Docklands Development Authority says the vessels would ‘contribute to life along the water’s edge’... THE DUBLIN 4 property market could soon get an injection of liquidity. The Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) has recommended that houseboats be allowed to moor at Pigeon House Harbour in Ringsend. The DDDA’s draft master plan has advised that houseboats would “contribute to life along the water’s edge” and should be “actively encouraged” to set up at the disused harbour. The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI) has welcomed the proposal, calling for the DDDA to adopt specific policies encouraging the establishment of a “live aboard” community in Dublin 4. Derek Whelan, a spokesman for the IWAI, said: “The harbour is an ideal location as it’s sheltered and near the city centre.” Although there are about 10,000 privately owned coastal and inland vessels in Ireland, it is estimated that fewer than 100 people ...

2008 Review: AGENT SPEAK: Jargon busting guide - revised for the recession... BROWSING ON the internet, I came across a very helpful guide to property and financial jargon which was thoughtfully provided by Sherry FitzGerald. I felt obliged, however, to write up a revised version, which might be more suited to today's virtually non-existent property market. Approval in principle : valid for no longer than 14 days from date of issue. Appreciation : no longer applicable to Irish property. Arrears : the term most frequently used this year. Asking price : well, you can always ask, but don't expect to receive. Auction : an extraordinary event where people actually competed with each other in order to buy a property. No longer necessary. Auctioneer/estate agent : a dying breed (from starvation). Arrangement fee : another bank scam. Best and final offer : that's all you're getting. Actually, no, cut that by €50,000. Bidding : a reckless act. Booking deposit : the money the dev...

According to a new report from Britain's Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Ireland's house market was the worst performer in Europe for 2007!

More good news today? (...well for hopeful home buyers anyway!) Irish House prices look set to fall by at least 5pc in 2008. This is according to Austin Hughes (an IIB group Homeloans economist,) during a presentation on the housing market outlook in Ireland for 2008. He also added..."The housing slowdown has been a good bit more severe than I had anticipated."