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MAKE HASTE slowly seems to be the Government’s approach in introducing property market reforms. Belatedly, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has announced the introduction of a database to record details of residential and commercial property sales. Currently the sale price of property transactions – excluding those conducted by public auction – cannot legally be published without the assent of buyer and seller. And this is rarely given.

Without price transparency on property sales, the result is an opaque market; prone to rumour and open to possible manipulation. For without up-to-date reliable price data, prospective buyers and sellers are ill-equipped to make informed decisions. The legal ban on publishing property prices stems from constraints under EU privacy law and serves neither the interest of buyer nor seller, nor the public. It greatly adds to uncertainty and risks creating a false market. Other countries have already addressed this issue. In Britain, a change to data protection legislation was introduced to enable publication of property sales prices.