Dublin property prices falling by €4,500 a month

[Johnny]

Well, all those mahoosive SUVs everywhere aren't being paid for with magic beans.

From an IFG press release:

* The proportion of regular home purchases has dropped to below 50% of all mortgage business, as the re-mortgage sector continues to grow rapidly. Within this group, there has been a significant change in trends over 2004, with over 96% (up from 90%) of the retail mortgage applicants choosing new homes over second-hand ones.
* Overall, IFG-Mortgage Broker Solutions estimate that the market has grown by over 50%.
* Applications continue to grow dramatically in size with an average level of almost €197,000 (up 19% from €169,000 in 2004) reflecting the increasing costs of trading up or building on an extension.
* A greater percentage of consumers are choosing to wrap all of the debts under a mortgage availing of interest rates of 3.5%, often selecting dual repayments terms.

The idea that more than 50% of mortgages being handed out are actually remortgages is rather scary...

Utterly reckless in the extreme. A large proportion of Irish people will have manners put on them economically in the not too distant future.

[beardyboy]

let us hope that this is the end of the greedfest - and the simple answer to affordable housing is to get the state to start building social housing - but little chance of the powers to be upsetting their mates in the golf and rugby clubs

[hiker]

If those are people who bought in '96 selling out, they can afford to reduce their prices a long way while still making a nominal profit...

Not if they're one of the thousands who splurged their nominal profit by remortgaging to buy that new Beemer every year :P

There's little one can do about folly....I often wonder just how widespread that is.

Come on. That is about the dumbest idea I have ever heard in my life. Ever.
Anyone who does something like this needs therapy.

Falling house prices will affect few people. If you slip into negative equity, its better to stick it out until you reduce your mortgage to below the equity left in the house and then sell it.
Its like renting for free for a few years.

[Johnny]

Falling house prices will affect few people.

[ibis]

If those are people who bought in '96 selling out, they can afford to reduce their prices a long way while still making a nominal profit...

Not if they're one of the thousands who splurged their nominal profit by remortgaging to buy that new Beemer every year :P

There's little one can do about folly....I often wonder just how widespread that is.

Come on. That is about the dumbest idea I have ever heard in my life. Ever.
Anyone who does something like this needs therapy.

Falling house prices will affect few people. If you slip into negative equity, its better to stick it out until you reduce your mortgage to below the equity left in the house and then sell it.
Its like renting for free for a few years.

Er, look at the quote from IFG again. More than 50% of their mortgages were actually remortgages. That would be a lot of people requiring therapy, but doesn't suggest that "falling house prices will affect few people".

Not that everyone who remortgages is buying an SUV with the money. Most of them, I would hope, will have been improving their houses - although if the market declines the value of this will also not be what they paid for it.

[feargach]

meh, "improving" houses is usually a waste of time. Unless you can actually relocate the building, the monetary value of the building doesn't rise by enough to cover costs.

Or unless you're a tradesman yourself. Even then, the work you're doing for yourself is paid work you're missing out on.

Free lunches in the housing world are over.

[feargach]

Falling house prices will affect few people.

Tell that to the Wicked Witch of the East

[Kevin Doyle]

It wasnt the price that killed her

[JCSkinner]

It wasnt the price that killed her

No, it was Dorothy and a bucket of water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Witch_of_the_West

[feargach]

http://irishhousepricesfalling.blogspot.com/ has not updated in 11 days.

Does that mean that the rise is back on?