Affordable Housing

gazzer

You should check the county councils for the affordable housing scheme.

I got one out in Mulhuddart two years ago (Market value was 170,000) for 118,000. I have since remortgaged to buy out the councils share and now have a mortgage with the bank for 170,000. Since then a couple of people i work with (Im in the civil service) have bought houses out in the same estate.

I was lucky in that i got the first time buyers grant and only had to put an extra 2000 euro on for the deposit.. I think at the moment you need a deposit of around 15,000 euro for a house in my estate.

My brother is about to move into a house out near Ashtown station (cant think of the name of the estate)... He is getting a three bedroomed house for 180,000 euro.

Once you are below the income threshold (which i think is 35,000 at the moment) you can apply to go on the affordable housing list.

jd

gazzer wrote:

I got one out in Mulhuddart two years ago (Market value was 170,000) for 118,000. I have since remortgaged to buy out the councils share and now have a mortgage with the bank for 170,000. .

How come the mortgage now amounts to 170k?

gurramok

TIPPTOP wrote:

House prices aren't going to go down and any one who thinks they will are fooling them selfs. In the next few years all the first time buyers who bought their houses a few years back will be hoping to trade up and there will be a glut of new buyers on the market looking for a new house and will need a substantial amout of capital from there house to fianace there purchase, plus with the extra population incoming into this country extra housing will be required.

The population of teenagers in this country is less than those over 21 at present.
When those in their 20s in appartments move on to get houses, alot more appts will be on market in 5-10yrs hence increasing supply in that area.

RainyDay

FX Meister wrote:

Wow, I didn't know that. Do you know which ones? Luckily i don't have to borrow from them but I had to consider it for a while.

Not sure - Here's what Oasis has to say;

In 2004, the Board of the ICB agreed requests to give all credit unions in Ireland the option of becoming members of the ICB. This means that credit unions will, in time, be able to supply information regarding loans and repayments to the ICB. Credit union customers' consent will be required before information can be passed on. There is no fixed date for when the passing of information from credit unions to the ICB will begin.

Tazz T

Zaph0d wrote:

Nobody knows where prices will go. Here are some events that might make prices drop:

• Introduction of a property tax (Cowen hints this won't happen as it was so unpopular in the past, however it could happen for second homes)
• Rise in the stock market .This would attract property investors getting disappointing rental returns to sell up. (Pretty likely)
• Supply finally catches up with demand: 80,000 houses a year are now being bulit or 5% of housing stock. Higher density blocks are going up around the country. Planners are allowing infill developments. Eventually there may be a glut of houses built.
• Collapse in investor confidence. This can happen over night and is unpredictable (eg tech stocks March 2000). It is preceded by the common belief that the market can only go up.
• Interest rate increases (If the Euro economy recovers which is unpredictable)

Best advice in this thread there.

Interest rates are at they're lowest since god knows when and most likely will rise in the coming year, taking their cue from the US.

New developments this and next year are outstripping demand.

Apartment prices are falling.

Rents have fallen for the last two years.

More apartments than ever are 'investment properties' when rents fall and properties fail to sell for the asking price, prices drop. Panic selling by landlords looking to rekindle their investment in a rising stock market combined with rising interest rates would severely hit the housing mariket.

With prices at their current levels, ie; everyone says prices are silly, then first time buyers can 't affrod to buy. Those looking for second homes have no buyers so they drop their price and so it escalates up the chain.

I'm probably completely wrong but all the elements seem to be there for a 'correction' in house prices.

antoinolachtnai

Tazz T wrote:

Interest rates are at they're lowest since god knows when and most likely will rise in the coming year, taking their cue from the US.

I wouldn't hold my breath on this. The weakness of the dollar is what is allowing interest rates to go up stateside. The strength of the euro is keeping them down here. (The reasoning is that the ECB sets the interest rate low to encourage money-hoarders to sell euros because of the low return. Selling, the theory goes, should result in a drop in the price.) Quite likely interest rates will go up eventually though, you are right.

Apartment prices are falling.

Where? Is this the former-section-23-effect? As tax incentives are used up, yes, these are certainly losing value.

Rents have fallen for the last two years.

definitely a fair point. A bit of a puzzle that. Maybe they will rise again? If interest rates went up, I think you might see a corresponding lift in rent. (This is speculation.) Also, as inflation pressures in other spending categories comes under control again (for example, drink, food, furniture, telecomms with the arrival of large international multiples) perhaps the extra money freed up will pile back into rental? Hard to say.

More apartments than ever are 'investment properties' when rents fall and properties fail to sell for the asking price, prices drop. Panic selling by landlords looking to rekindle their investment in a rising stock market combined with rising interest rates would severely hit the housing mariket.

This one is hard to call. Traditionally, Ireland is a country of owners, not renters. It may well be that a shift is happening. If this is the case, then this could be sustainable enough. I don't think Ireland has a particularly high rental: ownership ratio compared to other countries.

Personally, I think that if prices dropped even a few percent, a few things would happen to stop the price drop. First-time buyers would dive in. Corporates would get involved in residential property for the first time. The banks would do anything they could to avoid foreclosing on much property. They certainly won't want to start dumping it.

With prices at their current levels, ie; everyone says prices are silly, then first time buyers can 't affrod to buy. Those looking for second homes have no buyers so they drop their price and so it escalates up the chain.

I'm probably completely wrong but all the elements seem to be there for a 'correction' in house prices.

People (including me) have said this loads of times before. There is no question that there is going to be a 'landing'. The only question is whether it will be a soft one, or of the bum-first variety.

Certainly, be very careful indeed before getting into buy-to-let. I personally don't think the risk of a drop is too material if you are considering buying your first house. You are better paying into a mortgage than paying rent. Even if there is a drop in prices of 5 or 10 percent in three or four years time (which I doubt) you will probably still be better off, because you will be building up some equity in the meantime.

If you can qualify for an 'affordable' house, get in there for sure, that's my advice. Buy two if they'll let you. (I doubt they will.)

Bluehair

As has been seen in any market before it's a fools game trying to predict the property market. People have been predicting a crash for 5 years or more and the longer the 'boom' continues the louder the cries get.

An interesting website is http://www.irishpropertycrash.com/ which puts together a lot of interesting info, make up your own mind.

One thing is definate in my mind however, a lot of us (myself included) are growing up on easy and cheap credit. Everyone I know is in debt up to their ears but not worried in the slightest as they can afford to keep up the repayments. But hey the good times will keep on going forever right?

If you can't afford to buy your own home yet THEN DONT BUY YOUR OWN HOME YET!

antoinolachtnai

Well, be careful about the evidence. Someof the stuff on the site you refer to, particularly the graphs on the right hand side, are overstated (comparing a growth figure for housing to the actual figure for population is deceptive).

When interest rates go up in Europe, it will be because of improvements in the state of the French and German economies (which is another thing that analysts said was going to happen soon, but never actually did). When it does happen, however, it should be good for the Irish economy.

Obviously no one should borrow more than they can afford. But it's a completely different thing to go into debt to buy a useful asset which will last a long time (like a house, which you can live in and which may even appreciate) and going into debt to buy a glamorous, short-lived asset (like a nice new car).

There is never a good time to buy your first house, and they are always too expensive. If you can't afford to buy your own home yet, you may never be able to.