An Update on the Irish Property Market
Published on Friday, March 27th, 2009
The rise of the Celtic Tiger has been spectacular and the Irish property market has soared alongside the growth of this European nation. Following on from an IMF report in 2000 that stated that Irish property prices were unlikely to continue to grow strongly for long, house prices actually went on to triple between 2000 to 2006.
However, the beginning of 2007 saw demand for residential property begin to fall, and as a whole 2007 saw prices falling by 7.3% on average across the whole nation. During 2008 prices of residential property in Ireland continued to slide, and at the end of 2008 average house prices had dropped by a staggering 9.1%.
Taking into consideration the level of inflation of 4.1%, this gave a decline during 2008 in real terms of 13.2%. The average price of a house in Ireland at the end of 2008 was a whopping £228,000 - but this has dropped from £251,000 at the end of 2007. In this article we’ll give you a full update on the Irish property market so that you can assess for yourself whether now’s a good time to buy or sell property in Ireland.
The only news coming out of Ireland’s property market at the moment is bad, very, very bad. Repossessions in the North have risen by almost 100%, commercial prices are falling at an unprecedented rate, and Ireland fell into recession before the rest of the eurozone as its housing market crashed.
With property prices having fallen by 30% in Northern Ireland already in the year to date, and prices for homes in the Republic of Ireland falling almost as fast, what can home owners and would be buyers find to be positive about? You’d think the answer would be ‘very little’ – what with the lack of mortgages compounding the sense of doom and gloom all round.
It’s been a while since we reported on the Irish housing market because there has been very little of a positive nature to share with you. But now the Bank of Ireland has released its latest findings and future predictions relating to Irish real estate, and whilst the bank doesn’t cast a sunny glow on the prospective fortunes of Irish property prices for at least the short term, it does at least clarify the situation in Ireland at the moment.
Those approaching retirement age are often in a position where they own their home outright or are in the last few years of paying off a now comfortably affordable mortgage, where they therefore have considerable equity accrued in their home and where they might actually be dreading the thought of managing the upkeep of a large family home once they come to retire.
With more than 300,000 Brits already taking up residence on its shores, the strength of Ireland’s attraction for expatriates and retirees is quite strong. Despite prices that are considered high by the standards of many investors, buying property in Ireland makes a lot of sense to would be expats for a few very strong reasons. As the booming property market here cools and housing prices start to fall, there are some changes in the works that might make purchasing here even more attractive.
