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Inishowen semi-d's for
€120,000
07.10.09
by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent
MOVILLE estate agent Leo McCauley believes the lower
end of the housing market in Inishowen may be
bottoming out with further sizeable reductions in
price of property in the €100,000 to €200,000
bracket unlikely.
His comments contrast somewhat with the latest ERSI/Permanent
TSB house price index which showed that house prices
nationally fell by another 1.5% in August and are
now back to January 2004 levels. This survey is
likely to show further falls in the coming months.
“The ERSI/PTSB Survey covers property across the
board but I feel in relation to Inishowen the
availability of finance (to suitable applicants) and
the large supply of good property (at much lower
prices) has made first time buyer confident about
entering the market. This is evident in recent
activity with some prices that are definitely back
to 2003 levels at least. |
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“The housing market is
still depressed, but some things are selling. The
main group getting mortgages at the moment are
first-time buyers, either through the banks,
(because they are required to lend to this group) or
under Donegal County Council’s Shared Ownership
Scheme. We are seeing steady business here.”
Mr McCauley said that there were now semi-detached
houses advertised on his website for as little as
€120,000 (which |
could have had an
asking price of 220 -230,000 18 months ago).
“In general prices are
still on the way down but lower end of the market
may have more or less bottomed out. If you look at
houses in the €100,000 to €200,000 price range,
those properties would have cost €200,000 to
€300,000 or even €350,000 not so long ago. Prices
are now down around 50% from the peak and from my
experience the lower end wont fall much more because
first time buyers are back in the market.”
However Mr McCauley said that the bigger picture was
still bleak.
“Above €200,000 there is nothing happening and the
holiday home sector has been hammered. Certain parts
of Inishowen are very dependent on the cross border
market but that is a still a problem sector. There
are very few buyers from the north these days,
because of the strength of the euro and the problems
in the housing market up there as well. The market
in the north has still to cool another 10% to 15% I
would say.”
“The crisis in the housing has resulted in an
increase in the rental market. People cannot get
mortgages as easily and must now concentrate on
saving for deposits. The increase in the volume of
rentals has caused healthier competition thus
resulting in lower rents.”
The Moville business man believes the wider housing
market in Inishowen will only return to health in
the medium term.
“The days of 110% mortgages are thankfully forever
gone and now you need at least an 8% to 10% deposit
to get a mortgage. 16 or 17 years ago you could only
get a mortgage for two and a half times your annual
income and prices of houses reflected these limits .
We hope to see a return to more responsible lending
where people are only given the mortgages they can
afford and the prices of houses will adjust
accordingly.” |
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