Daft Property - Irish Property News

200,000 homes may need to be bulldozed -- bank AN explosive report has claimed that Ireland has so many empty houses that it would take up to 43 years to fill them all. Deutsche Bank figures suggest that there are 289,451 empty houses in Ireland, including almost 60,000 vacant holiday homes. This represents a vacancy rate of 15 per cent. As the Deutsche Bank map shows, the empty properties are highly concentrated around the Atlantic coast with Kerry and Donegal particularly badly afflicted. This glut of empty homes will have a major impact on future property prices. "Demand for housing is the key factor as to how long it will take for this oversupply to be reduced, and aside from demand for second homes the key driver should be population growth," Deutsche Bank notes. Based on 2011 figures which showed population growth of just 13,000, and the average number of residents per house, the bank estimates that it could take until 2055 for the glut of houses to be worked through...

Ireland’s property boom was the biggest, and our crash the most violent. In a week that brought news of a further drop in house prices, Economics Editor DAN O’BRIEN explains why the market won’t recover any time soon... ‘THE FUNDAMENTALS of the property market are sound, going forward.” This mantra was repeated constantly during the boom by those who believed that no risks were attached to soaring property prices. If any reminder was needed of how badly wrong this view was, it came this week with new official figures showing yet another fall in residential property prices in August. This, according to statisticians, brought the total decline since the property-price peak, in late 2007, to more than 43 per cent, one of the biggest drops in the world. The latest figures from the auctioneer Sherry FitzGerald, also published this week, are worse still, suggesting that average prices are down by a huge 58 per cent since the bubble burst. The belief that property was a one-way bet b...

House prices ‘could fall by 67% from peak’... INTERNATIONAL credit ratings agency, Fitch Ratings has warned of "further downside risks" to Irish house prices; adding that prices could ultimately fall by 67% from peak levels in a worst-case scenario. In a new report on the Irish housing market, Fitch said it realistically expects prices to show a total drop of 50% from their peak around four years ago. However, it added that while that rate of decline forms "the most likely scenario", a worst-case scenario would result in a full-term 67% drop in house prices. "Irish house prices continued declining during 2010 and now are approximately 42% below the peak. "In light of the oversupply of properties and continued restricted credit availability, the agency sees further downside risks to Irish house prices and as a result, Fitch now expects a peak-to-trough house price decline of approximately 50% as the most likely scenario," said Ketan Thaker, sen...

Call for inquiry into property bubble... An independent inquiry is needed into the Government’s failure to control the property bubble, a State-funded academic institution said today. In a scathing report, the National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (Nirsa) also demanded a full investigation into charges of cronyism in the planning process. Furthermore, the body which examines how the country is developing, claimed the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is a worrying organisation set up as part of a response to protect developers potentially at the expense of taxpayers. Professor Rob Kitchin, director of Nirsa, which is based in NUI Maynooth, said an inquiry into planning decisions and alleged close links between politicians and property speculators was necessary if the housing market was to recover. “An independent inquiry is needed to investigate all aspects of the planning system and its operation within and across different agencies and at all scales in Ireland in...

House prices must drop 40pc to restore investor confidence... PROPERTY prices need to fall by about 40pc or by around €100,000 before it would make sense to consider investing in houses, a report from Irish Mortgage Brokers and an academic indicates. House prices in Dublin need to fall from €283,800 to around €179,000 for property to be a good investment. Similar percentage falls are needed in Cork and Galway, the report by financial adviser Karl Deeter and lecturer Frank Quinn says. "Our calculations indicate that from an investor perspective the time has not yet arrived for a confident return to property for investment," the 'Residential Property Investor Report' says. Asking prices for a house in Cork of €248,000 need to fall to €141,000, while prices in Galway need to drop from €235,000 to around €141,000. The report concludes that "over-valuation is still the dominant characteristic of the Irish residential property market" . The report adds: "Fall...

Land rezoned for 800,000 more homes than needed... Glut highlights role councillors played in fuelling the boom. COUNCILS have rezoned enough land to build almost 800,000 new homes that the country does not need, an Irish Independent investigation has found. Local authorities have rezoned enough land to construct almost 1.1 million houses and apartments across the country at a time when thousands of homes lie empty in 'ghost estates'. But official projections received by the Government have found fewer than 300,000 new units are needed between now and 2016. The revelation highlights the extent of the role councillors and planners have played in fuelling the property boom which collapsed with devastating consequences. Some councils including Meath rezoned up to 60 times more land for residential use than was needed. Just two out of 34 councils -- Limerick and North Tipperary -- under-zoned land. Councils who designated too much land for housing will now be forced by the Governme...

House prices are now at 2003 levels as almost €100,000 has been wiped off the value of an average home. The price of property has plummeted by a massive 31.5pc since the peak in early 2007. Data published by the Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index outlined that the pace of property price declines escalated in 2009, with prices tumbling 18.5pc over the year compared to a fall of 9.1pc in 2008. The standard house price in the country is now €213,000 and the figures deteriorated as the year progressed, with an 8.5pc fall in average prices in the last three months of the past year. Niall O'Grady, general manager of business strategy at Permanent TSB, described 2009 as a "horrendous year" for the Irish housing market. "The pessimist will say there's worse to come. The optimist will argue that affordability has improved so much that things will stabilise soon. But the realist will admit we'll have to wait and see," he said. Separate research from Goodbody ha...

Shocking new probe shows 302,000 homes are left empty... More than 300,000 houses are lying empty around the country -- three times the official estimate, says a team of academics. The scale of vacant housing -- equivalent to half of all homes in Dublin -- could be enough to meet demand for years to come. The figure was worked out by the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (Nirsa), based at NUI Maynooth, which advises the Government. It is up to three times the estimate from Housing Minister Michael Finneran, who last week told the Cabinet there were between 100,000 and 140,000 houses lying empty. The construction industry suggested it was 40,000. NIRSA director Prof Rob Kitchin said he decided to calculate accurately the extent of empty housing because official figures do not exist -- only estimates. Along with colleagues, he used the GeoDirectory (Ireland's national address database), the 2006 Census and Department of Environment figures based on ESB connection p...

Property prices to fall 45% from 2006 peak... Property prices in Ireland could fall as much as 45 per cent from levels seen in late 2006, as the economic downturn and increased costs of funding the banks weigh on the market. According to Fitch Ratings, the average house is curently worth 7.5 times the average income, a ratio that is expected to fall to nearer 5.5 times the average individual income. "Tax rises, high unemployment, wage deflation and property supply overhang continue to undermine the country's property market," says Alastair Bigley, Head of Irish RMBS at Fitch. Property prices have fallen 24 per cent to date from a peak in December 2006, Fitch said. "Despite almost three years of house price declines, prices have yet to reach a sustainable level of affordability," says Douglas Renwick, Associate Director in Fitch's Sovereigns team. The difficult market will be further pressured by a rise in the cost of funding to financial institutions, drive...