Media: Supply of homes for sale in urban areas hits all-time low

The_Conductor

Right out of the playbook of the bleeding obvious- the Irish Times is leading this morning with a story about how the supply of homes for sale in urban areas- has hit a new all-time low, with Dublin leading the pack- where supply is down 19% in the 12 months to 31st July.

Link to story here

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So- in an entirely foreseeable development- the supply of homes available for sale in urban areas- despite the platitudes of the government- has hit yet another new low point.

Obviously- people are making an informed choice that they want to live in urban areas- dangling the prospect of 130,000 (or 180,000 according to some plaudits) vacant homes available to solve the housing crisis in rural areas- is a complete and utter smoke screen.

The Minister needs to make the 4 Dublin Local Authorities sit down around a table- lock the door, and refuse to let them go home- until they come up with a coherent policy to massively increase density and supply of well serviced, decent sized units- in the Dublin area. The homelessness crisis- while not uniquely a Dublin issue- is predominantly a Dublin crisis.

LirW

I think an intervention is necessary to put a hold on the further development of the housing estates that are popping up all over the city. In a time of a crisis like this it is pretty much the least sufficient way building 3- and 4- bedroom family homes on these plots of land. Of course the builders are focused on getting max profit. But honestly, it can't go on like that.

The city doesn't cater the young multinational workforce that are either single or couples, we've read that it drives this workforce away, because they aren't interested in sharing in their late 20s or living in some sub-standard studio apartment. The demographic of Dublin changed over the last few years and more and more young people decide against having a family, therefore they have different needs in regards of housing.
Building a mix of family homes and multi storey is the way to go here, everything else is unsustainable. The people have to deal with it.
Simply don't give planning permission for insufficient developments - the need for family housing is there but once they are there they can't be gutted and in the long run it won't benefit the whole city.

This of course needs to be tied with an improvement of the urban public transport. A huge number of people need to get from A to B fast. The current bus network for example isn't doing it, expecially with everything leading to the city centre and a massive lack of circular bus routes so you don't necessarily need to go into the centre.

This is a wake-up call to start doing it right, or it will get worse. A lot worse.

Colonel Claptrap

Keep in mind that the report refers to second hand homes only.

The number of new builds is increasing hugely in % terms, albeit from rock bottom.

I think it's important to distinguish the two. "The supply of homes for sale...hits all time low" is not the same as saying the supply of new dwellings is low.

If 3,900 second hand homes change hands in Dublin this month, the net effect to housing supply is zero.

Dublin needs more NEW home sales. The reduced supply of second hand homes is a secondary concern, which will pick up once new houses are built.