Daft Property - Irish Property News

‘Hope to be bankrupt for Christmas’: Irish mortgage debtors see insolvency as way out... With one in five mortgage payments being overdue in Ireland and families across the country having their homes repossessed, some of the debtors are hoping for bankruptcy to do away with their endless fear of losing their properties. Julia Godsill, a Dubliner, can hardly hold back her tears, when retelling her not uncommon mortgage saga to RT’s Tesa Arcilla. When she bought her house the Irish economy was still the “Celtic Tiger” enjoying its boom time. After the credit crunch of 2008, Julia could only watch as her mortgage became too high for her to be able to pay, while the value of her house itself went down. “I ended up with a cash offer for 500,000. This was in 2011. And I was delighted. But the banks refused to accept the offer because the mortgage was 800,000 climbing with arrears. They preferred to bring me to court, and repossess the house instead.” The Central Bank of Ireland figu

A surge in the number of home repossessions is on the cards after the Central Bank decided to change the rules. Debt-ravaged homeowners will no longer have one year's protection from having their houses repossessed. The 12-month ban on banks taking back properties from homeowners in arrears is being cut to two months. The move and other changes to regulatory rules for how struggling borrowers should be treated by lenders have been condemned by David Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, as a "banker's charter" that will lead to a spike in repossession. He claimed: "The banking dogs are set to be unleashed on mortgage holders in arrears." The move to change the Central Bank's code of conduct on mortgage arrears – a rule book for how banks are to treat borrowers behind on their payments – is to be radically changed. The revised code is set to come into operation from next Thursday with a number of changes that banks have lobbied

How this crippling new homes levy will hit Dubliners 3 times as hard... DUBLINERS face having to pay almost three times as much property tax as householders outside the capital. The controversial tax is due to be rolled out across the board this summer at a 0.18pc rate of the value of the property. But the discrepancies between how much householders in the capital will have to pay compared to people living in towns and cities elsewhere suggests the tax may be one of the most divisive ever. Today the Herald highlights the disparity between the charge on homes in Dublin and two medium-sized towns, close to Cork and Galway cities. We have selected three types of houses - a four-bed detached, a three-bed semi-detached and a three-bed terraced - for comparison purposes. The big difference between the houses in each type is their location and price. Unfair Homeowners are due to receive an estimate on their bill from the Revenue in March. They must submit their valuation by Ma

The term ghost estates colloquially refers to the list of 2,000 unfinished housing developments  compiled by the Department of the Environment. Dublin doesn’t do too badly in the 2011 rankings with 95 estates identified in the city council area, compared to 149 in neighbouring Fingal. The other two Dublin councils also returned quite positive figures; Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has 60 unfinished developments and South Dublin County Council 50. It’s clear the capital has escaped lightly when some of the numbers recorded in sparsely populated counties are considered. Sligo has 237 unfinished developments, Roscommon has 235. Dublin also has a low number of estates considered the most problematic. These are the developments where residents’ living conditions are such that they are not required to pay the household charge, generally where the developer has abandoned the unfinished estate. Only 19 estates in the city council area are on this list. Elm Park was on the depa

Has the property market truly bottomed out? And not only that, but showing some signs of life? Well yes and no. Very encouraging signs are there for all to see. The newspaper property supplements are less anaemic and signs proclaiming "Sold" which have been as rare as hens' teeth are suddenly being seen in some of the better Dublin enclaves. Agricultural land is making record prices. And there are tentative signs that if potential buyers can survive a searching examination of their finances -- now so intimate that it would shame a proctologist -- there are mortgages being approved. Even property auctions, a leit-motif of the halcyon days of the boom, are making a re-appearance after a five-year absence. While there are huge tracts of the country where the residential property market is still on life support there are at least some signs elsewhere that suggest the patient is out of intensive care. Recovery has started in Dublin, not all of the capital, but in the areas

NCB Stockbrokers said the price of buying a home will fall by at least a fifth in the years ahead as Ireland recovers "from the largest credit and housing bubble in OECD history". The Dublin-based broker calculated that the eventual national decline from peak to trough will be 60pc. Average prices have fallen 47pc so far which implies that prices must fall by at least another 20pc before hitting rock bottom. "The boost from domestic demand will not be material until 2013. Unemployment, currently 14.3pc, will remain above 10pc until 2016," NCB economist Brian Devine warned. "As such, there should be no surprise that property prices continue to decline, mortgage arrears continue to rise and retail sales remain weak," he said. Prices in Dublin have already fallen close to this amount with apartment prices in Dublin down 58pc and house prices in Dublin down 54pc. Mr Devine said he remains worried about the fundamentals underpinning the Irish economy but kept

MANY PEOPLE selling their homes are still looking for prices higher than buyers are likely to pay – and the difference between asking and selling prices can be as much as 20 per cent. For while property website surveys published this week show residential property price falls since the peak of the property boom of between 43 and 52 per cent nationally, estate agents say that actual selling prices are now down by around 60 per cent and more. The lack of specific information about property sales prices means that buyers and sellers are still largely in the dark about what is actually happening in the property market. This should change in June, when a property price register detailing recent sales, with addresses and prices, is published by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA). The figures published by property websites MyHome and Daft are all based on asking prices. Meanwhile, the CSO’s most recent residential property price index, published in late December, showed prices

92% of lots sold by Allsop... THE BIDDING was brisk at the Allsop Space auction of mostly distressed property in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel yesterday, as 1,600 people packed into the auction room and spilled out into the bar and lobby of the hotel. A total of 97 of the 108 properties sold under the hammer with a further two selling after auction, raising a total of €11.4 million. Around half were cash buyers – 30 per cent less than at previous auctions. A small group of protesters from a group calling themselves the Anti-Eviction Taskforce held a low-key protest outside the hotel. However proceedings came to a brief halt when one protester stood up in front of the auctioneer and warned about the “ill will” that could affect buyers of distressed property in communities. “Don’t bid then,” replied auctioneer Gary Murphy from UK-based Allsop, before thanking the protestor for his “kind words”. Around a third of the lots are apartments, and one of the bargains of the auction was a

The property dilemma -- to sit tight or cut your losses? It's a dilemma hitting thousands -- especially young couples living in apartments. What do they do -- sell now or hold on? Many of them were frightened on to the bottom rung of the property ladder and now find themselves in a home which is too small for their needs. They are asking themselves if they should take the hit on negative equity, and buy a house which can accommodate a growing family. And even if they do, where will they get the money to buy another property? A few years ago, many had held on in the hope of a soft landing, but now are wondering whether they should bite the bullet and jump. Already price falls of 40pc to 50pc have made family houses much more affordable. However, many couples who sell an apartment that they bought in the boom could find that the sale price is far less than the amount they owe to the bank. Banks are slow to allow them to sell, trade up and carry over the negative equit

Bulldozers send boomtime buildings crashing down... TWO unfinished houses that would have fetched €200,000 each during the boom have been bulldozed because of public safety fears. The unoccupied houses -- and foundations for three more -- were levelled at Church View in Clongeen, Co Wexford, at a cost to the taxpayer of €28,000. Other residents of the estate last night said they were relieved that Wexford County Council had taken action against the developers, Impulse Construction Ltd, by knocking down the houses. They said the unfinished houses had attracted vandals and encouraged anti-social behaviour for some time, and were unsightly at the entrance to the estate. This was the first time houses had been demolished in a new estate in Wexford, but the Department of the Environment confirmed other houses had been demolished on a small number of occasions. Wexford County Council confirmed it has more plans in the pipeline to carry out "public safety works which may involv

HOUSE prices will keep falling for another two years and not bottom out until at least 2013, when the average price will have fallen by 60pc to €150,000. The latest prediction comes as National Irish Bank said it would raise its variable rates by up to 0.95pc next month. However, there are renewed hopes that the European Central Bank will signal a cut in eurozone interest rates when it meets tomorrow. A cut in ECB rates may help the collapsing housing market. Ireland is currently experiencing the most violent property crash in the western world. Over the last four years, prices have fallen by 45pc to leave the average asking price at €194,000, according to the latest Daft.ie house-price index. The Central Statistics Office puts the fall from peak at 43pc. Now it has been predicted that prices are set to fall for another two years with the average asking price to hit €150,000 before the market bottoms out, according to research by housing economist Ronan Lyons of Daft. Mr

Ireland 'needs 30,000 new homes per year'... Ireland will need to build over 30,000 new homes per year over the next 15 years, an economist has claimed. Marian Finnegan of property auctioneer Sherry Fitzgerald told the National Housing Conference today that Ireland’s growing population would require substantial additional housing between now and 2026. “The latest census figures show that Ireland’s population has risen to 4.58 million and it is expected to increase to 5.1 million people by 2026,” Ms Finnegan said. “Based on this population growth we can anticipate that there will be a need for an average of 30,200 new homes to be built per year over the next 15 years.” The conference, organised by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), is taking place in Dublin Castle’s Conference Centre. The comments come despite figures which show that there are more than 30,000 properties in th

Traveller in eviction row owns Limerick ghost estate... THIS is the 33-unit housing estate in Co Limerick owned by one of the Irish Travellers living on the controversial and illegal Dale Farm camp in England. The substantial detatched houses, which could sell for over €400,000 each, have been under construction since 2004. Irish Travellers living on England’s largest illegal halting site at Dale Farm in Essex face eviction next week. The Traveller, who can’t be identified because he shares the same name with five other Travellers on the Dale Farm site, became the title holder of the ‘ghost’ estate in Rathkeale, Co Limerick last year. It is one of the few estates in the country where construction has continued -- albeit at a slow pace -- since the collapse of the Celtic Tiger. A prior applicant successfully lodged planning permission with the local authority for the houses in Rathkeale, where there is a large Traveller population. Work is still continuing at the housing

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

Noonan: no lottery style payout for mortgage debt crisis... FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan yesterday promised that the Government will act swiftly to deal with the mortgage-debt crisis -- but insisted the solution will not be a "big pool of money in substitute for the lottery". The comments came as Mr Noonan insisted it was "not realistic" to expect the Government to sanction universal "debt forgiveness" for borrowers who bought at the peak of the market or have run into trouble with their mortgages. At a meeting of the Finance Committee yesterday, Mr Noonan repeatedly stressed that he would not second-guess the work of an interdepartmental group due to report on solutions to the mortgage crisis at the end of September. But he categorically ruled out any role for universal debt forgiveness, insisting it was "not possible" and that "nobody should think there's going to be some big pool of money to be handed out as a substitute fo

Insurer refuses to pay for pyrite damage in buildings... HomeBond leaves owners facing bills of €70,000. Thousands face bills of up to €70,000 to repair pyrite damage to their homes after a leading building insurer refused to meet claims. HomeBond, the building insurance agent, has contacted the owners of affected properties to tell them they will not accept liability or pay out on claims. Some homeowners who had already been offered compensation have now been told that these offers no longer stand. Junior Minister and Meath East TD Shane McEntee, who has represented many of the affected families, described the move as "shameful". It follows a High Court case in which it was ruled that a quarry from which pyrite-infected material was sourced was culpable for the condition of the buildings it supplied. Last year it was estimated that around 20,000 claims had been made to HomeBond in relation to pyrite -- a mineral that expands in the presence of moisture and oxygen

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

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.

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