Daft Property - Irish Property News

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

We've never had it so bad, ESRI warns... Recession worst since the 1930s, think-tank reveals IRELAND is suffering the worst recession of any advanced country since the 1930s, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) warns in a grim analysis of the economy. Unemployment could rise above 500,000 as national income (GNP) is forecast to fall by 14pc over the three years from 2008 to 2010. The fall in national income beats the 11pc decline in the Finnish crisis of 1990 to 1993, when the collapse of the Soviet Union suddenly deprived Finland of its main market. The ESRI believes this year will be the worst of the crisis, with income per person plunging by more than 9pc in real terms. But there will be further decline next year, with a 1.2pc fall in national income. The stark outline comes as new figures will today show that the rate of increase in unemployment has slowed, but that 384,000 people are signing on. The CSO statistics reveal that an additional 11,000 signed on the li

Ireland's dream is over as bankers chase McJobs... In Dublin, the sushi conveyor belt has stopped turning at one of the city's swankiest Japanese restaurants. In the west of the country, a new McDonald's outlet has been inundated with job applicants, among them bankers, architects and accountants. As signs of the times go, it could hardly be more dramatic. “It's no joke, I had to do a double-take on the CVs,” Kieran McDermott, the franchisee, said. He removed a “Now Hiring” banner on the site of the fast-food restaurant after only ten days. “The jobs were advertised nowhere else.” More than 500 people applied for the 50 available jobs. From indulging the latest food fad to flipping burgers, Ireland's fall from economic grace has been dramatic . Europe's most successful economy for more than a decade - the famous Celtic Tiger - became the first of the eurozone nations to move officially into recession last autumn. Since then, the descent into a financial maelstro

The end of July reports show... Number signing on Live Register rises by 10,600 The rise in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits over the last year has increased at the fastest rate since records began over 40 years ago. In July, 10,600 people joined the Live Register bringing the seasonally adjusted total signing on to 226,000, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office this morning. The monthly increase is the second highest on record after March of this year. The number on the register is the highest in a decade. Last month’s increase lifted the standardised unemployment rate to 5.9 per cent, the CSO said. Over the last 12 months the number of people seeking unemployment benefits has risen by over a third with 63,647 people joining the register. In July 6,700 males and 3,800 females joined the register. Leo Varadkar, Fine Gael enterprise spokesman accused the Government of losing control of a deteriorating economic