Daft Property - Irish Property News

Taxpayer beware as Nama makes spectacular loss. Loss-making Nama has become a seemingly endless gravy train. Worse still, it has emerged as a bailout for some of the same developers who have brought this country to its knees... When it was announced by then Finance Minister Brian Lenihan during his emergency budget speech in April 2009, we were told it would get credit moving, we were promised it would not be a bailout for developers, we were told it wouldn't be a gravy train for advisers, consultants and public sector fat cats and we were told it would make a profit. Set up to save the country from the greed and recklessness of the banks and developers, including Liam Carroll, Bernard McNamara and Sean Dunne, Nama was an unprecedented development in Irish history. But, more than two years on from its inception, there is no question on all of these fronts: Nama has failed and failed spectacularly, and the taxpayer should be very concerned indeed. As last Thursday's an

Web jam as 10,000 download list of NAMA properties... NAMA'S list of property for sale was downloaded by 10,000 people in just a day and a half as bargain hunters scoured the list for cheap deals. A spokesman for toxic debt agency NAMA revealed last night that it was forced to make emergency changes to its website in order to cope with the unprecedented web traffic. It came after NAMA made a list of 850 properties it is selling through receivers available for the first time. The list features property in 25 of the 26 counties as well as Northern Ireland and the UK. The assets listed include everything from car park spaces and bedsits, through to family homes and significant commercial and industrial assets. NAMA is not directly selling any of the property but its 150 staff have been inundated with enquiries since the list went live, sources at the agency said. NAMA is now looking at ways to make the property list easier for the public to access. It also intends to u

NAMA fire sales aim to breathe life back into market... Thousands chase property at knockdown prices as NAMA puts houses, farms, pubs and apartments up for sale. BARGAIN hunters came out in force yesterday after bad bank NAMA put nearly 1,000 properties up for sale in the largest single sell-off in the history of the State. The prospect of picking up a farm, pub, quarry, three-bed semi, hotel, apartment -- even an airport -- sparked an unprecedented wave of interest within hours of the list being published. NAMA chiefs even promised to finance some of the sales as the agency announced losses of €1.18bn on dealings for last year. It also revealed the extent to which NAMA is to recover money from reluctant debtors. In one case -- and as late as this week -- it seized jewellery worth €200,000 that had been given to a developer's partner. NAMA bosses insisted they were not running a fire sale and kept asking prices and bids received a closely guarded secret last night. Bu

Luxury flats to be set aside for social housing... THEY once had a price tag of almost €1.5m each but now a set of luxury apartments nestled in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains are being sold for an average of just €177,500. And instead of attracting Celtic Tiger cubs, some of the high-end dwellings are being set aside for social housing. A total of 58 apartments in the Beacon South Quarter, Sandyford, which are in NAMA, have been purchased by the voluntary housing body Cluid. The apartments, which were built at the height of the boom, have views over Dublin and are serviced by the M50 and the Luas. Receiver They were bought from a receiver appointed by NAMA to the development company Landmark Enterprises. It is the first such deal between NAMA and a voluntary body and will see 34 of the apartments going to people on the social housing list for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown local authority. The remaining 24 will be rented through the private market. Three-quarters of th

House prices still falling - Dublin tops the list... House prices in Dublin are nearly 47pc off their peak in early 2007 compared with 39pc in the rest of the country, according to the Central Statistics Office. In the year to June, residential property prices at a national level fell by 12.9pc. This compares with an drop of 12.2% in May and a decrease of 12.4pc recorded in the twelve months to June 2010. In Dublin, residential property prices decreased by 2.4pc in June and were 12.6pc down compared with a year ago. House prices in the capital fell by 2.4pc last month and were 11.9pc lower on an annual basis. But economists believe that while the jobs market remains weak, within five years house prices should improve but very slowly. “The bottom line is that the property market remains very ‘soft’ at the moment,” said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham Stockbrokers. “ But looking further ahead, we think house prices should increase on a five-year view as the labou

Bertie bags $40,000 - for tips on Celtic Tiger 'success'... FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is charging American companies a fortune to present a new lecture -- about how he transformed our economy in the Celtic Tiger boom. The man targeted by many as the architect of our crippling recession, is charging more than $40,000 (€27,554) a time for speaking engagements with the elite Washington Speakers Bureau. During the lecture, Mr Ahern offers tips to bosses of leading firms on how to be competitive. The former Fianna Fail leader has been employed for a number of years as one of the highest-paid speakers with the bureau -- whose motto is 'Connecting you with the world's greatest minds' . In his latest lecture -- entitled 'Prime Minister as CEO' -- he tells listeners to adopt Ireland's Celtic Tiger as a model of economic growth. Last night it was described as "bewildering". Bosses of the bureau refused to reveal the number of times Mr A

More pain as households hit with new €100 ‘property’ tax... ALMOST all households are set to be hit with a new €100 service charge to be announced this week, the Irish Independent has learned. The Cabinet will sign off on the combined water and property tax tomorrow, despite the easing of the debt burden under the new EU bailout deal. Environment Minister Phil Hogan is coming under pressure to exempt those on low incomes from the new tax, which will result in middle-income earners paying more. The Government is expecting to bring in upwards of €150m from the charge. The flat-rate levy, to be introduced next year, will be the first tough decision to be taken by the Coalition that will prove unpopular to the overwhelming majority of people. The options for the annual charge range from €100 to €200 a year. The likely outcome is a sum at the lower range of €100, with a small number of exemptions -- the solution favoured by Mr Hogan. However, this will have to be approved by the