Dublin’S Des Res Feels The Heat Of Recession

[The Masked Tulip]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e830afc-bf54-11df-965a-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

Economists say many Irish buyers who bought houses in the latter years of the boom will remain in negative equity for years. Too many of the same type of housing, such as blocks of flats, dot the country – 93,000 housing units were built at the height of the boom in 2006. Some experts say 250,000 households in the country’s population of 4.2m are now in negative equity and house prices may remain stagnant, in real terms, for years.

Mr Ensor predicts it will take at least a generation for prices on Ailesbury and Shrewsbury Roads to match their 2006 peak.

“There have been some cases in OECD countries where there have been longer declines. But prices will be back, after we see them trough next year at 2000 prices,” says Mr Duffy.

So near to us in miles, so far away from us in prices!

[headrow]

So near to us in miles, so far away from us in prices!

That's because we still have a huge workforce , the Irish havn't been so lucky.

[AvidFan]

Mr Ensor predicts it will take at least a generation for prices on Ailesbury and Shrewsbury Roads to match their 2006 peak.

A generation. 20 years+.

Think of all the human suffering that's going to cause. The lives of thousands or tens of thousands of people wiped out. And that's just the Irish Republic.

[Giordano Bruno]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e830afc-bf54-11df-965a-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss

So near to us in miles, so far away from us in prices!

But have they fallen to sensible levels? I'm not sure that they have yet. In Northern Ireland they haven't yet, imo. I was there a short while ago. They are nearly sensible, but not quite.

[Killer Bunny]

But have they fallen to sensible levels? I'm not sure that they have yet. In Northern Ireland they haven't yet, imo. I was there a short while ago. They are nearly sensible, but not quite.

Nolan 9.45am Tues 14th!

[Traktion]

But have they fallen to sensible levels? I'm not sure that they have yet. In Northern Ireland they haven't yet, imo. I was there a short while ago. They are nearly sensible, but not quite.

Aye, they're still overpriced, just not quite as ridiculously so.

My latest fun calculation is taking a ball park self build cost (£50-65 per sq ft) and working out how good/bad a deal it is. Considering a regular 3 bed house is about 1200 sq ft, it should cost from £60k to self build it. Then consider the economies of scale and the cost savings from building them as semis... that could easily knock a 3rd off. So, let's say 40k.

How much are many 3 bed semis, outskirts/near rural towns selling for? Some near me are £139k. £100k little more than 1/3rd of an acre?! These houses should be about £80k max with sane land prices, which incidentally, would be about 3.5x the average salary here too.

Thankfully, rural land now seems to be heading south of 70k per acre plots, with larger plots being less than half that per acre. They recently changed the planning laws, making it much easier to self build and many a rural plot has halved in 6 months. Signs of sanity are appearing, but there still seems to be a lot of greed and delusion from the property developers and a few too many lemmings left throwing themselves off negative equity cliffs. Give it a few more years, I say...

Edited September 13, 2010 by Traktion