Estate Agents caught inflating reported house sale prices

[kerrynorth]

The SBP is reporting that Dublin Estate Agents have been discovered by the Irish Times to have been inflating actual sales figures supplied to the Irish Times for publication by upto 20%. The Irish Times property editor, Orla Mulcahy, has written to Dublin EA's about this practice and the Times have introduced a cavaet when reporting alleged sales prices.
Commenting about this practice Dr Alan Aherne says he is not surprised by this and othe tactics in a downturn. He said that the same thing was occuring in the US 12-18 months ago.

[factual]

The SBP is reporting that Dublin Estate Agents have been discovered by the Irish Times to have been inflating actual sales figures supplied to the Irish Times for publication by upto 20%. The Irish Times property editor, Orla Mulcahy, has written to Dublin EA's about this practice and the Times have introduced a cavaet when reporting alleged sales prices.
Commenting about this practice Dr Alan Aherne says he is not surprised by this and othe tactics in a downturn. He said that the same thing was occuring in the US 12-18 months ago.

Interesting ----suggests that house prices are falling faster than official stats??

[LowIQ]

The SBP is reporting that Dublin Estate Agents have been discovered by the Irish Times to have been inflating actual sales figures supplied to the Irish Times for publication by upto 20%. The Irish Times property editor, Orla Mulcahy, has written to Dublin EA's about this practice and the Times have introduced a cavaet when reporting alleged sales prices.
Commenting about this practice Dr Alan Aherne says he is not surprised by this and othe tactics in a downturn. He said that the same thing was occuring in the US 12-18 months ago.

House sales in the U.S. are public information and routinely carried in the local press. Having said that, I haven't read the article so the comment about the U.S. may be related to something else.

[Luchtaine]

Things must be bad

[CookieMonster]

Things must be bad

Unless you're buying.

[feargach]

Interesting ----suggests that house prices are falling faster than official stats??

Correct. The boom-skeptics have known this for ages.

There is zero public knowledge of actual selling prices. The monthly reports by the PTSB/ESRI is based on asking prices alone.

Public officials do know what actual sales prices are: the Revenue are always told the precise sum paid. But they're not telling.

[odie1kanobe]

UK house prices are pretty open as land Registry is updated every month.

[Supermanpolitician]

The SBP is reporting that Dublin Estate Agents have been discovered by the Irish Times to have been inflating actual sales figures supplied to the Irish Times for publication by upto 20%. The Irish Times property editor, Orla Mulcahy, has written to Dublin EA's about this practice and the Times have introduced a cavaet when reporting alleged sales prices.
Commenting about this practice Dr Alan Aherne says he is not surprised by this and othe tactics in a downturn. He said that the same thing was occuring in the US 12-18 months ago.

Interesting ----suggests that house prices are falling faster than official stats??

No necessarily so. Official stats on this are actually compiled based on official sales as put through legally.
However your point is a valid on. The spin which is being put out is obviously to keep the estate agents happy.

But this is nothing new. I remember phoning and being told that they expected people to queue overnight for a development. They probably said the same to all buyers at the time. They created a self fulfilling buzz. It's in no one's interest to create a negative buzz except perhaps mine as I never actually bought. But hey, no one listens to me anyway.

[QuestionsQuigley]

Interesting ----suggests that house prices are falling faster than official stats??

Correct. The boom-skeptics have known this for ages.

There is zero public knowledge of actual selling prices. The monthly reports by the PTSB/ESRI is based on asking prices alone.

Public officials do know what actual sales prices are: the Revenue are always told the precise sum paid. But they're not telling.

Do Public officials and the Government not have an advantage over everyone else in society, they know what way the Property market is moving. A bit like insider trading you could say, they can act on that information and either buy or sell based on that information!! It just shows how corrupt the Property market is in this country compared to other countries.

[Helium Three]

I cannot say which is funnier - the idea that estate agents tell fibs about prices, or the idea that the Irish Times could be shocked by the very thought.