House price caution, DPC decision, Trackers no longer the cheapest option

A day after MyHome.ie showed signs of a cooling property market, a new report from Daft.ie shows the rate of growth in asking prices for homes hit 6 per cent nationally last year despite evidence of a slowdown in the second half of 2022 following “an unprecedented couple of years” of high demand and low supply. Ian Curran has the story.

Ian also reports that the Irish Data Protection Commission is expected to issue a revised decision later this week that could significantly limit Facebook and Instagram owner Meta’s ability to gather information from its users to tailor and sell advertising as well as lead to large-scale fines against the social media giant.

Tracker mortgages have been the cheapest home loans going for years, but as the European Central Bank increases interest rates that may be no longer the case. Tracker holders could save more than €5,500 on the remaining life of their loan by switching now to a fixed mortgage rate, according to one financial adviser. Dominic Coyle reports.

In her first column of the year, Laura Slattery gives readers lessons on how to improve your life when it comes to your media habits.

How to organise a work day out that doesn’t induce groans among staff

---

Family affairs: How Ireland’s newly rich are putting money to work in secretive firms

---

Fujifilm Instax Mini 99: The most creative and best instant film camera in the line to date

---

Buying an older home with a poor energy rating? You’ll probably pay a higher mortgage rate

---

The operators of the proposed Codling wind farm in the Irish Sea have cut the number of turbines earmarked for the site in advance of a public consultation on their plans. Barry O’Halloran has the details.

Staying with wind farms, Greencoat Renewables, the Dublin-listed wind and solar energy group, has announced an agreement to acquire 22.5 per cent of an offshore wind farm in Germany. Colin Gleeson reports.

Colin also reports that many workers in Ireland can expect a rise in salary packages in 2023, according to Matrix Recruitment, which found that salary bands are expected to expand by between €2,000 and €10,000 in a number of sectors.

After a month of companies publishing their gender pay reports, and often revealing significant gaps between men and women’s earnings, a professional body focused on HR has warned there is incomplete information being provided by some organisations in their gender pay gap reports. Colin has the details.

Electric and hybrid cars accounted for 42.4 per cent of all new car sales in 2022, outselling either petrol or diesel rivals, Michael McAleer has the story.

Johnnie Fox’s is one of the best known pubs in the country, with profits to match. Gordon Deegan has been reading the accounts of the firm that owns it.

Gordon also reports on hotel operator NolaClan, which said it is confident of returning to profit after two years of pandemic-related losses, and separately looks at Tuam-based driverless cars tech business Connaught Electronics, which saw pretax profits surge last year.

Finally the economy may be slowing but Christmas sales boomed at Aldi: As Colin reports, during the run-up to Christmas customers bought almost 8.2 million Brussels sprouts, 3 million mince pies and more than 250,000 bottles of champagne, sparkling wine and prosecco for Christmas and new year celebrations.

Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest.