Savills: Property Outlook Summer '09

verbatim · May 21, 2009, 8:09am

Total spend on property falls 90% from 2006 peak, finds Savills
irishexaminer.com/business/sncwcwojcw/rss2/

By Tommy Barker Property Editor

Thursday, May 21, 2009

THE total Irish spend on property has fallen a massive 90% from its 2006 peak – and land values will continue to slide until NAMA gets well-established.

That’s the 2009 Irish Property Market Outlook from international agency Savills, which reports that spending here on property will slump to €4.5 billion this year, down from record 2006 levels of €50bn.

Economic conditions will see the take-up of office space drop to 50,000sq m this year, down from a 2007 all-time high of 300,000sq m. Completions will be quite high this year, dropping sharply in 2010 and grind to practically a halt in 2011, predicts Savills.

The market for development land and its value remains highly uncertain, says the estate agency firm: "The establishment and operation of NAMA may distort the normal open market for land for the next five to 10 years.

“Until this proposed new agency is fully established, and it becomes fully clear how it will operate, the resultant uncertainty over values and the future availability of builders’ working capital and finance for land acquisitions may completely hinder a normal market – and depress values further,” the property outlook report states.

Savills report is here (pdf reader required)

savills.ie/pdfs/PropertyOutlook-Summer09.pdf

yoganmahew · May 21, 2009, 9:08am

mambo · May 22, 2009, 8:27am

Prices lure new buyers

You can now buy a good four-bedroom semi-detached family home with large gardens in leafy southside suburbs for less than €700,000, according to the latest Savills Property Outlook.

Large five-bedroom detached homes in Avoca Park Blackrock which were selling in 2006 for €3.2m, are now attracting bids of around €1.3m. Large homes in Killiney selling for €3.5m are now struggling to make more than €1.7m.

“On the northside, we are finding a substantial increase in the viewing levels and sales are happening at the lower level prices,” residential director Ronan O’Hara says.

On the northside, he reports that good quality red brick and ex-corporation houses close to the city are selling well to first-time buyers and three and four-bedroom houses in Clontarf, Phibsboro, Glasnevin and Raheny are beginning to sell again, “albeit at competitive prices”.

A four-bedroom semi-detached house on Mount Prospect Avenue, Clontarf, requiring modernisation was recently sold for under €1m. Vendors willing to negotiate on price are finding increased viewing levels and offers.

The Savills expert thus maintains that the residential market may at last be bottoming out. “Prices are as far back as 2001 levels in some instances, which is dramatic to say the least,” he commented. “Indeed, open viewing numbers are in some cases more reminiscent of the heady days of the boom than more recent times and this should manifest itself in increased offers and consequently sales, given time.”

Con Power

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