Media articles from THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

[Shotoflight]

Wicklow Co Council move on unpaid development fees

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0210/367079-wicklow-co-council-move-on-unpaid-development-fees/

Residents on a Wicklow housing estate are being pursued for the payment of outstanding development fees that were left unpaid by the developer of the estate.

Wicklow County Council has written to 21 homeowners in Avoca demanding payment of €2500 each.

The registered letters said the homes were not in compliance with their planning conditions as development fees stipulated as part of the planning were not paid.

Brook Meadow, which contains 54 houses, is located on the outskirts of Avoca, Co Wicklow.

Residents are arguing that development fees are charges to the developer who got the planning permission so they are not liable

However, Wicklow Co Council told RTÉ News that levies are a charge on the property itself and the council has a duty to collect all outstanding charges.

It is estimated that on a national level, €269m in unpaid development levies remain outstanding.

[Shotoflight]

Honohan tells banks: 'act on home loan arrears'

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/honohan-tells-banks-act-on-home-loan-arrears-29060273.html

THE Governor of the Central Bank has sharply criticised the country's biggest lenders for failing to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis.

Patrick Honohan said he was not satisfied with the pace of loan restructuring and said that senior management at the Central Bank were "tearing their hair out" at the lack of action from banks to get people "back on target".

He said addressing the slow rate of progress on the mortgage crisis would be the Central Bank's priority following the securing of a deal on the nation's debt problems.

And he warned that the Central Bank was so concerned about the lack of progress on mortgages that it was close to issuing directions to the banks on how to deal with the matter.

Almost one in five of all mortgages (17pc) are currently in arrears, with 135,628 homeowners failing to meet their commitments.

Despite the crisis, progress on restructuring loans was "not good enough" and if banks didn't begin dealing with the problem the Central Bank would step in, he warned.

"They're (homeowners in arrears) not being dealt with in sufficient numbers and that's why we're tearing our hair out... this simply isn't good enough.

[Shotoflight]

Debt deal is normalising the Irish freak show

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2013/0212/1224329948276.html?via=mr

Michael Noonan is now the daddy, of course, and he has carried off with great aplomb the ultimate act of normalising the freak show. The promissory notes were a monstrous freak, the star exhibit in the gallery of grotesques that is the Irish bank bailout. Its one virtue was in being so obviously freakish: the extortion of more than €30 billion from 1.8 million workers to pay entirely private debts is right up there with the Elephant Man and the Lobster Boy. Roll up! Roll up!

Remember Pat Rabbitte’s claim that the Government didn’t pay the promissory note last year, even though the Central Bank was in fact paid its €3 billion? But these are amateur efforts compared with what the Government pulled off last week: a complete capitulation on the principle of extorting private debts from citizens presented, and largely accepted, as a great day for Ireland.

The Government will come to regret its wild exaggeration of the significance of a deal that means that the national debt of €211 billion will be just €800 million lower in 2015 than it would otherwise have been. It has raised expectations of the end of so-called austerity that will be cruelly dashed.

It has sent out the signal to the troika and the rest of the world that Ireland is doing fine, a “good news story” that undercuts the chances of a write-off of the rest of the bank bailout costs. It has etched in stone the absurdity that a tiny economy like ours can bear a staggering 43 per cent of the entire cost of the European bank bailout. (Every Irish citizen has stumped up €8,956. The average European citizen, by contrast, has had to fork out just €191.)

Perhaps most importantly, the Government has incurred in this deal a huge hidden cost – the loss of the sense of justice, dignity and national selfrespect that is crucial to the building of a successful society. A nation taught to be grateful for such small mercies is not one that can imagine big things for its future.

[Shotoflight]

Property Tax: €500 fine for failure to produce valuation when selling home

http://www.independent.ie/business/property-tax-500-fine-for-failure-to-produce-valuation-when-selling-home-29068213.html

[Shotoflight]

Household financial distress at 'unprecedented levels' - Patrick Honohan

http://www.rte.ie/news/business/2013/0213/367554-mortgage-arrears-honohan/

Speaking at the bank's conference on distressed property, the Central Bank Governor said household financial distress is at unprecedented levels.

This can be seen, he said, from the "extraordinary" rates of arrears on the servicing even of mortgages secured on owner-occupied homes.

He said that while most borrowers continue to service their loans, long-term debt modification is relevant for cases of over-indebtedness involving or bordering on insolvency.

However, he said permanent debt relief is "not something that will be offered to all of those who have suffered a loss of wealth" and that negative equity is not in itself a rationale for debt relief.

He said repossessions may be inevitable for many investment properties, but should be avoidable for the majority of owner-occupier cases where borrowers are doing their best to maintain repayments.

In order to relieve pressure on borrowers, changes to a mortgage must also take into account other factors, such as money owed to credit unions and utility companies, Mr Honohan said.

However, he added: "There must be consequences for an uncooperative borrower refusing to make a reasonable effort."

[okaycuckoo]

Household financial distress at 'unprecedented levels' - Patrick Honohan

http://www.rte.ie/ne...rrears-honohan/

Speaking at the bank's conference on distressed property, the Central Bank Governor said household financial distress is at unprecedented levels.

This can be seen, he said, from the "extraordinary" rates of arrears on the servicing even of mortgages secured on owner-occupied homes.

He said that while most borrowers continue to service their loans, long-term debt modification is relevant for cases of over-indebtedness involving or bordering on insolvency.

However, he said permanent debt relief is "not something that will be offered to all of those who have suffered a loss of wealth" and that negative equity is not in itself a rationale for debt relief.

He said repossessions may be inevitable for many investment properties, but should be avoidable for the majority of owner-occupier cases where borrowers are doing their best to maintain repayments.

In order to relieve pressure on borrowers, changes to a mortgage must also take into account other factors, such as money owed to credit unions and utility companies, Mr Honohan said.

However, he added: "There must be consequences for an uncooperative borrower refusing to make a reasonable effort."

Getting desperate? Second time he's delivered this message in the past few days. One of his minions delivered the same message last year.

Jaysus, lads. Y'know like, stuff doesn't stop happening forever?

[Shotoflight]

All debts to IBRC remain due, warn liquidators

Borrowers told payments will be processed in new accounts

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/all-debts-to-ibrc-remain-due-warn-liquidators-29070622.html

[Shotoflight]

Mortgage interest rise could affect up to 300,000

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/mortgage-interest-rise-could-affect-up-to-300000-29082118.html

AIB, the country's largest bank, is planning a new increase in variable rates, its chief executive has warned.

The move is expected to spark a new round of rises from other lenders, hitting around 300,000 people with variable home loans.

AIB has around 70,000 customers who have variable rates. Every 0.25pc rise in rates adds €30 a month to the cost of repayments on every €200,000 borrowed.

Experts said a new rise in rates would push up the number of residential customers who are in arrears.

[Venger]

John Fleming of Cork managed to avoid a billion euro of debt by going bankrupt in London.

He's been discharged from his bankruptcy pleaded in England, but it obviously still has consequences, with Deloitte still probing on behalf of NAMA and others creditors as a "trustee in bankruptcy", seeking to put claims on things such as his Irish pension.

I've got less frustration towards the downfall of this developer, compared to others. His involvement at least went through other things rather than selling houses on for ever more money, including civil engineering projects and infrastructure projects; gaining an early reputation for high quality build results..

Although I'm not sure it's in the best of taste to buy back and live in his old home. Especially with reports some of his creditors felt the pain of his business going down, and have angrily confronted him in the past. Cork men are meant to be known for their high levels self-confidence and self-belief, although often-time with genuine graft to put into the jobs they do. (I read that in a story about Roy Keane.) Just a matter of them needing to learn the same lesson that applies to all the other over-extended business people.... they can't keep expanding with debt to try and acquire almost everything, otherwise they are at risk of falling hard.

29 September 2012

A TOP Irish developer who went bankrupt two years ago is living back in his former home in west Cork at weekends after his son-in-law bought back the property.

John Fleming looks set to become the first major Irish developer to make a dramatic recovery after writing off massive personal debts. His property empire collapsed in 2010 owing €1bn.

Mr Fleming, once one of Ireland's top builders and a prominent supporter of Fianna Fail, led the way two years ago when he went bankrupt in Britain.

continues http://www.independe...e-28815457.html

[Shotoflight]

Ulster Bank 'sorry' for mortgage glitch

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2013/0227/breaking46.html

Ulster Bank has been forced to apologise to more than one thousand customers who are facing a shortfall on their mortgage repayments of up to €30,000 after the bank failed to put them on the correct mortgage repayment schedules for as long as four years.

Affected clients were offered the option of paying interest only on their mortgages for a period but the bank subsequently failed to convert the repayments to both interest and capital at an agreed date.

Ulster Bank said it had identified the cause of the mistake and reported it to the Central Bank. which assured affected customer who experience difficulty meeting any revised repayment schedule “will be treated sympathetically".

Ulster Bank has outlined four options to the deal with the underpayment. It is offering customers an interest free loan which they can use to pay off the under-collected amount.

Alternatively they can extend the term of the mortgage or repay capital and interest over the current term but at a higher rate. The last option the bank is making available is for people to repay the outstanding money in a lump sum.

[Shotoflight]

'Unknown' bankrupt developer racked up €250m debt

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/unknown-bankrupt-developer-racked-up-250m-debt-29105372.html

A businessman whose companies had debts of €250m has gone bankrupt in the UK – the latest in a raft of once high-flying Irish developers to do so.

Michael Conway Jnr joins a long list, which includes Bernard McNamara, John Fleming and Paddy Shovlin, of Ireland's exiled property bankrupts.

Conway Jnr, who hails from Dripsey, Co Cork, quietly went bankrupt in Chelmsford County Court in Britain last May. He is due to be discharged in three months' time.

Conway Jnr's business interests, held primarily through the Conway Partnership with three other businessmen, was valued at over €500m at the peak of the boom in an accountants' report based on Ireland's then crazy property values.

The Conway Partnership and a variety of other business interests of Conway Jnr's owed Bank of Ireland alone over €60m when Ireland's property market crashed.

This money related to housing developments and a major mixed redevelopment Conway hoped to build at City Square, Watercourse Road, Cork.

Another €40m was owed to Anglo Irish Bank and €130m to Ulster Bank by partnerships and companies in which Conway had a stake.

Loans from Ulster Bank were drawn down in 2006, 2007 and 2009 after his companies found themselves with expensive landbanks in Dennehy's Cross, Cork, with planning permission for 143 residential units, and a 63-acre site at Castletreasure, Douglas, Cork. Both sites saw their value wiped out when property crashed.

[Shotoflight]

Third of mortgage holders in arrears 'choosing not to pay'

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/third-of-mortgage-holders-in-arrears-choosing-not-to-pay-29106324.html

Gregory Connor, professor of Finance at NUI Maynooth, said that 35pc – or close to 40,000 – of residential and buy-to-let mortgage holders who are three months or more behind on their payments could meet their payments but were choosing not to.

This is known as strategic defaulting, where funds to pay a mortgage are spent on other debts or goods and services.

Prof Connor, who has previously held leading academic positions at the London School of Economics and the University of California, based his calculations on the Central Bank's arrears figures and US research.

He said there had been dramatic growth in the level of mortgage arrears since the so-called Dunne ruling.

This was a judgment by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne which exposed a legal loophole and blocked banks from repossessing homes in cases where the mortgages were issued before 2009.

Most boom-time loans were issued before 2009. The Dunne ruling was made in July 2011.

The academic, above, said restrictions on repossessions were leading to a higher proportion of strategic arrears than in other countries.

[Shotoflight]

Pledge to ease 'mortgage distress'

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/pledge-to-ease-mortgage-distress-29114067.html

He insisted the Government was working closely with banks to encourage them to find sustainable solutions for hard-pressed customers and he added that personal insolvency legislation introduced last year would help protect them.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny insisted repossessing homes would be a last resort for banks, but he said the Government hoped to issue a strategy next week in relation to closing a legal loophole that prevented banks from seizing properties.

He said a "lacuna in the law" known as the Dunne ruling had to be dealt with from a legislative point of view.

"I hope next week we can issue a strategy that will deal with this and reflect the lacuna that has been in the law, which banks have been saying is important to them in doing their business," Mr Kenny said.

The loophole followed a 2011 High Court ruling from Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, who found that a failure to change some old laws before the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 meant lenders could only repossess properties where borrowers had defaulted if they demanded full repayment before December 2009.

Government plans to close the loophole have sparked fears of a new wave of repossessions, but Mr Kenny insisted the coalition did not want to see people losing their homes. "What is important is we put in a process that is transparent and that is patently fair for people," he added.

Recent figures from the Central Bank revealed that more than one in 10 mortgage holders were in arrears of three months.

[Shotoflight]

Landlady who had tenants under electronic surveillance fears losing home

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/landlady-who-had-tenants-under-electronic-surveillance-fears-losing-home-29116357.html

A FORMER landlady who kept a number of student tenants under electronic surveillance fears losing her home due to efforts to enforce judgments of some €115,000 against her and her daughter.

[Shotoflight]

Finance chief sends harsh warning over mortgages

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/finance-chief-sends-harsh-warning-over-mortgages-29116885.html

HOMEOWNERS cannot expect to stay in houses where they have no prospect of paying the mortgage, the head of the Department of Finance has revealed in a harsh warning.

The comments from secretary general John Moran are a further sign of the Government's bid to soften up homeowners for repossessions.

Mr Moran told hard-pressed mortgage-holders that the taxpayer was not going to subsidise them to stay in properties beyond their means.

Trying to give some hope to struggling families, Finance Minister Michael Noonan called for banks to strike deals with customers -- and promised to cut income tax "when I get any opportunity".

But at the same time, his most senior civil servant said homeowners could not expect to remain in houses if they couldn't pay the mortgage into the future.

It is a hard-hitting message ahead of the introduction of the property tax this summer, and comes as new figures show that the numbers behind on their mortgage repayments have climbed again.

One in four mortgage-holders is now in trouble as the effects of the recession and the property crash continue to reverberate.

But Mr Moran said there had been an "unnaturally low level of repossessions" of houses in Ireland so far.

He told the Dail Public Accounts Committee that agreements by the banks that resulted in this low rate of repossessions were necessary until a range of measures -- notably the personal insolvency legislation -- were in place to address the arrears situation.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has already signalled that repossessions are in the pipeline as banks move to deal with the mortgage crisis, but he was quick to stress that this would be only as a last resort.

However, Mr Moran said: "It is not necessarily appropriate that banks should be using taxpayers' money to subsidise people living in accommodation, even if it is a family home, that is beyond their means."

He said it was "surprising" to his officials that there were so few repossessions, given the extent of the crisis. Referring to repossession rates in the US and the UK, Mr Moran said: "Maybe we will move to those levels. We have had as serious a crisis as everybody else."

New figures for the end of last year show that 186,000 mortgage accounts are now in some form of arrears or have had to have repayments lowered with the permission of the bank.

The numbers who are three months or more in arrears on their residential mortgage have jumped to close to 95,000, the Central Bank said.

This represents 12pc of all residential mortgages. Overall, some 144,000 home mortgages are now in some form of arrears and a third of buy-to-let mortgages are in trouble.

Another 42,000 mortgage accounts have had to have repayments restructured, because the homeowners are unable to meet the repayments. These people are not in arrears.

[Shotoflight]

Son denies claim he 'pushed' mother into selling home

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/son-denies-claim-he-pushed-mother-into-selling-home-29118537.html

THE son of a woman suing over transactions which allegedly left her without a home and with a €2m debt today rejected suggestions he had used undue influence on her to sell her house.

Jonathan Ryan, a former banking official, said he only had his mother Elizabeth Ryan's best interests at heart when he got involved in the transactions which he says have left him and his family ruined.

Johnathan decided the best way to secure his mother's future was to sell the two houses in Sandycove and buy another which would suit her needs when she came out of the home as well as the needs of the rest of the family.

His mother gave him power of attorney over her affairs and he obtained a €4.11m loan in his mother's name from AIB to buy and pay for a bridging loan and renovations to a €3.5m house he and his wife decided to buy at Khyber Lodge, Nerano Road, Dalkey.

However, they had not sold the other two houses before this and with the collapse of the property market in 2007, the two houses

eventually sold for well-under their expected prices. Even after paying over the proceeds of the sales they were still left with a debt to AIB of around €2m.

Jonathan, who formerly worked for Dutch-owned bank ING and as a relationship director with NIB but is now unemployed, and his wife Paula, who works in IT for AIB, are also suing the same solicitors for breach of professional duty.

Jonathan has told the court he and his family had been financially ruined by what had happened and that he had at all times relied on professional advice given to him by his solicitors and by representatives of the bank.

If AIB had got a judgment against him for the debt, it would affect his employability in banking. The fact that he is now unemployed however had nothing to do with this case, he said.

[Shotoflight]

Labour warns FG on home seizures

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/labour-warns-fg-on-home-seizures-29120587.html

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Ms Burton voiced the anger within Labour ranks toward Mr Moran and insisted that a wave of repossessions "will not be allowed to happen".

However, in a clear sign of deep divisions within Government, junior finance minister Brian Hayes strongly defended Mr Moran, who, he said was "simply telling the truth".

"It (repossession) is an extreme option," said Mr Hayes, "the last option, but we cannot have recovery without the stick of dealing with people who are in houses they can no longer afford.

"Mr Moran did not mince his words, he told the truth.

How refreshing it is to have a senior civil servant willing to speak as directly as he did." Another senior FG minister echoed Mr Hayes' comments, saying: "You can upset a lot of people with the truth. What Mr Moran said was insensitive to people worried about losing their homes or investments — but that is not the same as saying that it wasn't true." Several Fine Gael backbenchers also came to Mr Moran's defence, saying he was simply "stating the facts".

Meanwhile, FF leader Micheal Martin accused the Government of "fake anger" in its criticism of Mr Moran, who, he said, was "merely repeating government policy".

None of this is good for the main government party, just as the crucial Meath East by-election campaign gets into full swing.

Amid fears that voter anger could lead to a protest vote against the Government, householders will this week begin to learn how much they have to pay in property tax.

[Shotoflight]

Property values website to go live

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0310/375926-property-value-website/

A new website indicating property values on which the new property tax will be based goes live this afternoon.

The new property values website by the Revenue Commissioners, on which the new property tax will be based, will go live this afternoon.

Property owners will be able to check what property values are in their area on www.revenue.ie.

The valuations will be based on a variety of sources including the recently established property price register, the An Post geodirectory and stamp duty data.

Other information such as the 2011 Census results and the 2011 Pobal HP Deprivation Index will also be used.

The website will divide the country into electoral districts of which there are around 3,000 in the country. There are between 500 and 1000 properties in each district.

Revenue says this is not an exact science but the system used works well in the majority of cases.

It also stresses the valuations given on the website are for guidance.

[Shotoflight]

Pat Rabbitte says repossessions a final resort, but inevitable

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0310/375958-mortgage-property-debts/

Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Minister Rabbitte said repossessions will be a final resort, but some are inevitable.

Meanwhile, the Government has confirmed it will outline plans this week to set quarterly targets for banks to deal with mortgage arrears on their books.

Latest figures show over €17 billion worth of mortgages are in arrears of 90 days or more with nearly €5bn of this in arrears for two years.

However, ministers have insisted that repossessions of family homes will only take place in a minority of cases and only as a last resort in cases of extreme financial stress.

The main banks will be given clear targets to start reducing the levels of outstanding mortgage debt.

For most people in mortgage distress this will mean re-negotiating new mortgage terms with some people getting part of their loans either 'warehoused' or written down in cases of genuine financial difficulty.

But an increase in the level of house repossessions is inevitable in those cases where a mortgage is not sustainable in any form.

Ministers insist that the new plan, worked out with the Central Bank, will place the emphasis on restructuring as the main way of resolving distressed mortgages.

However, they acknowledge banks will also be given the option of repossession as a last resort in certain cases.

[Shotoflight]

Construction activity drops again

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/construction-activity-drops-again-29121227.html

The number of new orders received by construction firms and their employment levels also dropped in February, according to the latest snapshot of the sector.

The Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) provides a seasonally adjusted index that tracks changes in the industry. A recorded figure above 50 indicates an increase in activity on the previous month, with below 50 signalling a contraction.

Total construction activity in February was rated as 45.3 - slightly lower than the 45.8 recorded in January.

[Shotoflight]

Mortgage arrears deal may hammer home values

Apartment prices could plummet 10%

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/mortgage-arrears-deal-may-hammer-home-values-29135077.html

Repossessions of buy-to-let properties are expected to pick up under a new plan to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis, which was unveiled by the Central Bank and government early last week.

The plan increases the pressure on banks to repossess properties as it sets out targets lenders must meet to deal with customers who have fallen behind on their mortgage repayments.

Buy-to-let investors are expected to bear the brunt of any hike in repossessions – with owners of apartments in the firing line, according to Michael Dowling, managing director of the mortgage brokers Abacus Finance.

"A lot of the buy-to-let properties at risk of repossession are two or three-bed apartments," said Dowling. "Apartment prices have already fallen by 60 per cent since the boom – and could fall by another 10 per cent if you've a glut of apartments put up for sale."

Owners of Dublin properties are more likely to see their properties repossessed than those that own property outside the capital, according to Philip O'Sullivan, chief economist with NCB.

"You will see a greater willingness among the banks to repossess properties in Dublin as they'd have more of an expectation of offloading Dublin properties," said O'Sullivan.

Ulster is first major lender to send out repossession summonses

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/ulster-is-first-major-lender-to-send-out-repossession-summonses-29133830.html

ULSTER Bank has already sent out summonses to residential homeowners seeking to repossess their homes – the first move of its kind by a major lender.

Ulster Bank repossessed around 200 properties last year, but says that figure is likely to jump five-fold to 1,000 properties this year.

[Shotoflight]

Couple pay mortgage for years – but can't enter home

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/couple-pay-mortgage-for-years-but-cant-enter-home-29136413.html

A YOUNG married couple, who have been spending almost €1,400 a month on rent and a mortgage for more than four years, remain "locked out" of a fully completed four-bedroom house in a ghost estate.

[Shotoflight]

Lose health cover and second car to get bank debt deal

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/latest-news/lose-health-cover-and-second-car-to-get-bank-debt-deal-29144616.html

ANYONE seeking deals with their bank over debt will have to make drastic lifestyle changes under proposals to be announced next week.

Homeowners looking to write off mortgage debt will be told, for example, to drop their health insurance and sell off their second car.

New criteria setting out the living standards for people having debt written off will also force people to:

* Take their children out of private schools.

* Give up foreign holidays.

* Get rid of Sky Sports.

Up to 100,000 families are currently in arrears of at least three months on their mortgages, while the average borrower in trouble has four other debts.

The new minimum income guidelines will be issued by the head of the Personal Insolvency Service, Lorcan O'Connor, and Justice Minister Alan Shatter next Wednesday. The official guidelines will set out what people can live on before being accepted for debt writedown deals to be overseen by the new insolvency service.

But it is understood the guidelines will also be used by banks for those being offered a long-term mortgage deal outside the new personal insolvency process. Although the guidelines are not legally binding, banks will only do a deal with homeowners who cut their living standards in line with these rules.

[Shotoflight]

Revenue issues over 714,000 property tax letters to households

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0322/377974-revenue-issues-over-714-000-property-tax-letters/

The Revenue Commissioners has issued 714,470 local property tax letters to households.

In a statement this evening, it said that it had received 5,567 electronic returns from property owners and a further 1,436 returns on paper.

Yesterday, it was revealed around 5,100 households are exempt from the Local Property Tax under details of a waiver released by the Department of the Environment.

Of the country’s 1,770 unfinished ghost estates, 421 will be exempt from the new tax.

In contrast, 1,322 such estates, containing around 43,000 households, were exempt under the Household Charge waiver list.

[Shotoflight]

Pace of property price falls increased in February – CSO

http://www.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/property-mortgages/pace-of-property-price-falls-increased-in-february-cso-29155611.html

THE pace of property price falls picked up last month, new figures show.

Prices were down by 1.5pc in February, figures out this morning from the Central Statistics Office show.

This is almost double the price decrease in January, when prices fell by 0.6pc.

Surely more than double? x 2.5 times??

Edited March 26, 2013 by Shotoflight