Daft Property - Irish Property News

Confusion as Hogan insists 'property tax' will happen... Environment Minister Phil Hogan insisted last night that a new flat-rate household charge -- a precursor to a property tax -- would come in next year. The minister's statement of intent came following confusion created by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, both of whom said no formal decision had been made. The household charge will be used to pay for local services and will ultimately be replaced by a full property tax based on the value of the home. The Government will also bring a separate water charge, once houses are metered. But the details of this rollout will also have to be sorted out by the Government. Following the split over Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton's proposals to cut wages for low-paid workers, the Coalition was again forced to deny a clash between Fine Gael and the Labour Party. Despite Mr Hogan clearly signalling a new property tax-style charge would be introduced

Developers cut prices of new homes in Dublin... Developers have sharply reduced prices at some of Dublin’s bigger housing schemes this weekend, in a bid to stimulate sales of vacant units and entice first-time buyers into the market. Price reductions of up to €150,000 are being offered at the latest releases of apartments and houses for sale. P Elliott & Co has put a total of 80 units at four of its apartment schemes, on to the market through Hooke & MacDonald, at substantially reduced prices. Prices now start at €169,000 for a one-bedroom apartment at Arena in west Dublin, while a two-bedroom apartments at Mellowes Quay in Dublin 8 now costs €269,000, down from a high of €415,000 in spring 2007. Jackson Homes, Kingscroft Developments and Durkan New Homes have also reduced prices at their schemes by about €100,000, or up to 30 per cent on peak levels. Estate agents reported strong enquiries ahead of this weekend’s releases. ‘‘Based on the level of enquiries we’ve had, we expect

New rules may force 'firesale' of 70,000 houses... BUILDERS could be forced to dramatically slash the prices of more than 70,000 new houses that are now lying empty across the country, a leading construction advisor has warned. In a damning new analysis -- obtained by the Irish Independent -- it is claimed that developers will have to offload the massive volume of vacant homes in a 'firesale' before the Government's new energy guidelines come into effect on July 1. The new study found the number of new homes lying empty in 'ghost' estates is far larger than was previously estimated. The findings reveal there are at least 100,000 'surplus' homes -- far higher than the 30,000 estimated by construction industry chiefs and estate agents. According to the analysis, carried out by Tony O'Brien, head of business consulting for accountancy firm Grant Thornton, market conditions suggest some 30,000 of these will be sold in the current economic climate. Bu

Falling prices represent new reality... At the end of last year, estate agents and vendors alike were reeling from the price drops that the market had experienced during 2007. But although they were shell-shocked, many industry experts were predicting that the rate at which prices were dropping would slow during 2008, and that prices would stabilise. Twelvemonths on, that now seems like nothing more than wishful thinking. The banking crisis, soaring unemployment and extremely poor consumer confidence have all resulted in the market having one of its worst years in living memory, a fact underlined last week by a survey which found that 80 per cent of estate agents were selling less than three properties a month. Even those potential buyers who are interested in buying are finding funding increasingly difficult to source, although observers are hopeful that the European Central Bank’s (ECB) policy of aggressive rate cuts will go some way towards alleviating that problem. With asking pric