AROUND THE BLOCK: WHAT'S THIS about NAMA looking to exclude estate agents from any valuations that need to be done on troubled property sites? Both the State and the banks should think twice about blaming the agents for a crash in property values and the huge landbank that is likely to lie idle for many years.

Everyone knows that the banks have been seeking out these same agents to give them realistic valuations on apartment schemes, housing land and commercial sites. The word on the street was that the banks did not want the details in writing, but rather by word of mouth so that the extent of the toxic debts would not be so glaringly obvious on their balance sheet. Now it seems the agents are not to be trusted, whereas in fact it was the banks’ easy lending policies that led to the present crisis. The banks threw money at builders and syndicates, competing with each other on the availability of debt finance. Everybody was a property expert, and in fact estate agents themselves were frequently bemused by the immense competition which pushed prices up to unsustainable levels.

If reliable valuations are to be obtained they can only be got from experienced valuers, employed by either the estate agencies or the city councils who have their own in-house teams. Even before that exercise gets underway the general consensus is that sites in the Dublin area have fallen in value by up to 50 per cent while those in towns and villages around the country have dropped by up to 75 per cent. The suggestion that the Government will bring in outside valuers could easily misfire, never mind the cost involved. It only takes two bidders to create a market, but with money now virtually unobtainable, sales will be few and far between, even at the reduced levels. Valuing isn’t so hard to do in a market that is, at best, standing still.