Daft Property - Irish Property News

Latest figures confirm the "softening" in house prices and according to a report from the Irish Independent... " HOUSE prices fell by 9pc in the past year, wiping €27,500 off the value of the average home. National house prices fell by 0.7pc in March, according to yesterday's Permanent TSB/ERSI house price index. But the price decline for first-time buyer houses was greater, at 10pc, as potential buyers have been squeezed hard by banks hiking up interest rates for new customers. A 10pc drop in First-Time Buyer (FTB) house prices will see some 40,000 new buyers go into negative equity by the end of the year, according to Davy Stockbrokers. Negative equity is when the value of the mortgage is greater than the value of the home. Economists also warned that prices will have to fall further if first time buyers are to be enticed back into the market. New buyers have also been hit by the withdrawal of 100pc mortgages, and the need to find deposits of up to 10pc. Over a th

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!

With the Paddy's Festivities now over...it's back to reality! With Irish property prices crashing many people are now staying put. For those that wanted to move for space, getting an "extension" is now the big buzz. And the new thing is "going down under"!!! A Basement is the easy option to create a whole extra floor. Already common in many other parts of the world the basement option is totally new to Ireland - that's all about to change with the arrival of "The London Basement Company." Obviously a basement can be used for anything with multiple room options - some of the more creative have installed gyms, home cinemas and swimming pools etc. Like it!

Ireland is going from one extreme to another - Boom to bust! With so few people now buying property in Ireland, instead waiting to see how much more prices will drop, the whole building scene in Ireland has slowed dramatically . The Live Register figures for January, just published, by the Central Statistics Office show a continuing increase in unemployment numbers during February. Many of these new unemployed are former Construction Industry workers. The numbers on Social Welfare, in Ireland, are now highest for the last eight years at 5.2%. Meanwhile SIPTU has rejected a request by the Construction Industry Federation for a 12-month pay freeze and a 30% cut in entry rates for construction workers. Perhaps this would have helped things?

Just reading the Irish Times this morning and found some tasty "bargains" (well they are a bit cheaper than they were anyway!) Butterfield, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, prices cut by up to €800,000... Largest house: 2007 €2.8 million - now €2 million Detached houses: 2007 €1.95 million - now €1.45 million Semi-detached: 2007 €1.2 million - now €990,000 Dalriada, Knocklyon "starter scheme", prices cut by up to €100,000... Houses: 2006 €610,000 - now €510,000 Duplex: 2006 €450,000 - now €399,000 Apartments: 2006 €399,000 - now €355,000 Firview Close Apartments, Dublin 3, prices cut by up to €55,000... 1 Bed: 2007 €325,000 - now €295,000 2 Bed: 2007 €450,000 - now €395,000 3 Bed: 2007 €520,000 - now €480,000

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."

Although the property market is totally daft, Ireland is still a top place to live in...Amazing! And this is official: It's the No. 5 place to live in worldwide as choosen by the UN for 2007-2008