Smarter homes see biggest cuts

RURAL PERIOD homes have been hit hardest by the property downturn, dropping by 22.9 per cent in the Dublin area and 17 per cent in the rest of the country last year, according to figures from the Irish Auctioneers Valuers Institute (IAVI).

Period home prices in Dublin have fallen by more than a third in the last two years, according to the report.

Estate agents reported price cuts of between 15 and 50 per cent across all property sectors with transaction levels down by between 50 and 90 per cent.

“Most sectors of the market have seen little, if any, action in the last 12 months,” according to the report.

The survey of members of the IAVI published this week made for grim reading. Second-hand homes have dropped in price by an average of 40 per cent since the peak in 2006, according to the IAVI.

Properties in the higher priced areas such as Dalkey, Howth and Foxrock have suffered the most, says the IAVI. South Dublin has sustained price falls of up to 36 per cent and one agent in north Dublin recorded a 37 per cent drop in Sutton, the survey revealed.

Prices of new four and five-bed detached homes in the capital are down by almost 30 per cent on 2006, while second-hand four and five bedroom homes have dropped by 36 per cent in the past two years.

In rural areas, four-bedroom detached homes have been hit hardest by the fall-back in prices, and are down by around 18 per cent.

The new homes market in Dublin came to a standstill in the second half of 2008, according to the IAVI. “Leading developers reduced prices significantly but even reduced prices were not generating remarkable sales after Easter.”

One agent reported that prices fell by as much as 40 per cent with the number of sales down by 70 per cent on 2006 levels.

“Savage cuts in salaries” and job losses were a feature of 2008, according to the survey.

IAVI members reported job losses of 23 per cent in 2008 with agents forecasting further losses of 9 per cent.

The greatest level of redundancies was in Connaught with a 33 per cent loss of jobs in the property area, and further job losses of 19 per cent in the region this year were predicted.