Daft Property - Irish Property News

Record 70,000 now behind on mortgage payments... MORE borrowers will be pushed into arrears on their mortgage payments because of rising unemployment, a ratings agency predicted yesterday as new figures show the number in trouble surged to 68,248 in July. That figure represents an increase of 12,485 in the numbers who are behind by three months or more on their mortgage payments when compared with last April. Overall, almost 9pc of homeowners are now in arrears. Ratings agency Moody's said it expected more borrowers to be pushed into arrears as jobless numbers increase. Moody's figures tend to be more up to date that those of the Central Bank which last month said arrears had risen to 7.2pc in June, leaving 55,763 homeowners three months or more in arrears. The Moody's figures imply that 22,231 have not paid their mortgage for a year or more, calculations based on their statistics show. These homeowners are at serious risk of losing their homes, home-loan experts

Number of 'ghost estates' hits 2,881... THE NUMBER of “ghost estates” has increased, figures to be published next month will show. Colm Ó Ruanaidh, senior adviser on social housing at the Department of the Environment, told the housing policy conference that the count for this year was not yet complete, but semi or unoccupied housing developments showed there had been an increase from 2,846 last year to 2,881 this year. A departmental spokesman said Mr Ó Ruanaidh was working from “raw data” that would be finalised and published next month. “The additional 35 developments constitute an increase in the number of dwellings in ghost estates from 179,230 last year to 179,900,” Mr Ó Ruanaidh said. Some 230 unfinished developments have met the criteria to benefit from a €5 million fund to address immediate safety concerns. A guidebook for residents in unfinished estates is to be published in coming weeks. Marian Finnegan, chief economist with Sherry FitzGerald, said the c