Daft Property - Irish Property News

IRISH house prices plummeted at almost the fastest rate in the world last year, new research has revealed. Ireland was placed in 48th position in a rating of house growth across 50 countries for last year, with prices dropping by 11.9pc. Russian houses plummeted by as much as 13.7pc in the same period while Malta was also above Ireland's fall at 14.1pc. Meanwhile, one of the fastest growing economies in the Dubai house prices fell by 8.2pc for the year, according to the survey by Knight Frank. Asia remains the top-performing continent with a recorded 8.4pc growth over the last 12 months, but even this figure is a significant fall from 17.8pc a year earlier. Performance Head of residential at Knight Frank, Liam Bailey, said that at first glance at the results table, it would suggest it's business as usual, with Asian countries firmly implanted at the top of the table and both Europe and North America languishing behind. "But there are a few less predictable re

We will default, so let's get on with it. But it's not all bad -- a top financier thinks Ireland's glass is half full and our bank debts will be shared... Ireland will default, when it does happen we should not do it alone but with Greece and Portugal; we should consider leaving Europe given how badly they treat us; we need to take a scalpel to our public sector and Ireland will take five to seven years from now to recover. Those are the views of Larry McDonald, former Lehman Brothers vice president turned international best-selling author, who was in Dublin last week speaking at the Irish Funds Industry Association. McDonald was, until September 2008, vice president of distressed debt and convertible securities trading at Lehman Brothers. He was heralded by many colleagues at Lehman for both his early 2006 call on the subprime crisis and the $46m in trading profits realised from it. I sat down with him on Friday afternoon last in the heart of the IFSC to discuss

Two in five executives fear 'double dip' recession... Almost 40 per cent of Ireland's top chief executives fear the country may face a "double dip" recession, according to the Sunday Independent Business Leaders Survey, a poll of Ireland's top 300 businesses. Economists have suggested the recession may technically end this year, with modest growth pencilled in, as Ireland piggybacks on a global recovery. But this growth may be short-lived as spiralling public debts, shattered consumer confidence, rising unemployment and potential interest rate hikes drive the country back into recession. The survey found that 39 per cent expected a "double dip", just ahead of 38 per cent of respondents who forecast that Ireland would escape a second recession. Almost 23 per cent were undecided. The American Chamber of Commerce estimates that up to 40 per cent of Ireland's corporation tax comes from US subsidiaries based here, and, if the recession deepens in the

Home debt-trap hits 340,000... Massive rise in borrowers caught in negative equity AS many as 340,000 people could now be in negative equity following a sharp fall in house prices. New research which reveals up to a third of a million people owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth is considerably higher than recent estimates that found 250,000 homeowners were in negative equity. Being in negative equity means you cannot switch mortgages for a better deal, fund a move to a larger home to start a family, or move house to take a job somewhere else. Economist with property website Daft.ie Ronan Lyons has calculated that 340,000 people, or one in five homes, are now in this predicament. "That's 340,000 homes where if the homeowners have to sell, they will not be able to pay the bank back solely through the money they get from selling the house," Mr Lyons said on his blog site (ronanlyons.wordpress.com). The findings are broadly in line with a survey by Amarach