Daft Property - Irish Property News

Ireland can breach EU spending rules to boost economy... Ireland will be allowed to breach EU spending guidelines for two years and access significant EU funding ahead of schedule, under an EU-wide financial package to be announced this week. The package will provide a boost for the government, which is preparing for a major shortfall in the annual tax take. Initial estimates show a 25 per cent decrease in the corporation tax take in 2008 and a shortfall of more than 55 per cent in capital gains tax receipts. In a briefing with The Sunday Business Post in Brussels, Catherine Day, secretary general of the European Commission, said the commission stimulus package would contain ‘‘concrete and ambitious proposals’’ to help EU member states to deal with the economic crisis. Day said it was likely that countries would be allowed greater flexibility from the EU Stability and Growth Pact, which limits borrowing by member states to 3 per cent of GDP. The flexibility will be allowed for a two-y

'Affordable housing' now more expensive than market... WITH THE downturn in property prices, homes in north and south Dublin and Meath are on the market for the same or lower prices than similar homes under the affordable housing scheme. Buyers can save €10,000 on €245,000 two-bedroom apartments in Phibblestown Wood, Ongar, Dublin 15, and €5,000 on €205,000 three-bedroom homes at Parnell Drive and Parnell Green, Ladyswell, Mulhuddart, by purchasing on the open market instead of through Fingal County Council. Three-bedroom apartments at Bailis Village, Navan, Co Meath, available through the county council's affordable housing scheme for €233,000, are advertised at the same price on the open market, as are two-bedroom properties at Eaton Square, Rathcoole, in south Dublin, available through the county council for €220,000. By purchasing on the open market homeowners avoid the "clawback" aspect of affordable housing schemes. Clawback means that if a home is sold with

Towns feel pain as jobs vanish... Ireland's towns, once noisy with the sounds of construction, are ominously quiet, as people get to grips with a new reality and the prospect of emigration, writes Ronan McGreevy . A WEEK AFTER Leitrim were knocked out of the Connacht championship by Galway, the county captain, Gary McCloskey, emigrated to London. McCloskey, who was Leitrim player of the year in 2007, had been out of work for five weeks, having been made redundant by Shine Construction, based in Athlone. Shine, which had been involved in several projects in the midlands including the development of Athlone town's new stadium, blamed the downturn in the building sector for its closure in May. The firm had debts of €3.5 million and assets of just €990,000. Twenty others lost their jobs. "I had no work for five weeks," says McCloskey, a Trinity College graduate in civil engineering. "It came to a crunch and that's it - hop on a plane to London. It was easy, given

Down, Down, Get On Down... So just how low can it get? Irish Times Property News: "Deep price cuts in end-of-season sales. WITH summer holidays looming and a glut of €1 millon plus homes on the market, and the realisation is finally setting in that a drastic price cut could be required to secure a buyer. While the property market has seen price "adjustments" across the board, heavy discounts are now offer in some cases. In the six properties listed here, the average price cut is 33.4 per cent. The slowdown has been particularly tough on high-end properties, which have a smaller pool of potential buyers. Price drops of over 30 per cent can mean upwards of €1 million being shaved off the asking price. KILLINEY: -31% EIRENE ON Marino Avenue East in Killiney, Co Dublin, came on the market in March at €6 million. Now three months later Savills HOK has cut the asking price to €4.15 million for the two acre property which is a stone's throw from the Dart and beach and may h

I read in the Irish Independent today that in Dublin's Temple Bar, once a property hotspot, that..." prices are beginning to drop: a spacious second floor, period-style one-bed, renovated 15 years ago on Parliament Street, with views of the Liffey and the evening sun, has been on the market for two months and the price is down from €365,000 to €345,000. At the Friary, off the cobblestones on Fownes Street, a one-bedroom west-facing apartment over Luigi Malone's restaurant is €410,000, but expected to drop. In Temple Bar Square, the quarter's heartbeat, a two-bedroom apartment, with access to a precious roof terrace and views of the city's skyline has been on the market a year and is available for €450,000. In the tenant zone, plans are in the early stages to refurbish and upgrade some of derelict Crampton Court apartments with its little garden, car-parking spacess and views overlooking the Liffey. And to rent? Despite so few properties being available, bites are s

One of my favourite sites about what's happening with the Irish Property scene is The Property Pin - thepropertypin.com. "... thepropertypin.com was established to discuss the existence of a damaging speculative price bubble in the Irish housing market" ... The Property Pin is " not here to cheerlead the crash but rather to illuminate, to provide balanced discussion and to help prevent another property bubble from occurring in the future." A great forum - well worth a visit!

There is growing concern over the new evidence emerging, from the Mahon Tribunal, about large sums of sterling that were lodged into an account that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had said was for his salary cheques. According to ireland.com today the Labour leader..." Eamon Gilmore said in a statement today that the tribunal hearings "raise yet more issues of profound seriousness for the Taoiseach". "We now know that far from being on his financial uppers in the early 1990s, Mr Ahern's myriad of accounts in various financial institutions were awash with money. It now also seems beyond dispute that, despite repeated denials by Mr Ahern, a number of lodgements to his accounts were in sterling. "It is now time for Brian Cowen and other senior figures to put loyalty to the country ahead of loyalty to their damaged party leader; it is time to bring this sorry saga to a conclusion, so that the Government and the Dáil can now concentrate on dealing with the huge social a