Friday, October 31, 2008

Quotes of the Week

Week starting 27.10.2008

"I believe when the recovery comes it will come quickly and will take many by surprise and will be similar to what we experienced in the last four recessions; property values will jump 10% to 15% and will then level out to grow at a far more modest rate for the subsequent years." Marcus Magnier, Head of Residential, Colliers Jackson-Stops, 30.10.2008

"We have seen collateral fall up to as much than 80pc. So the Irish market, to a certain extent, has basically lost contact with any bottom in some areas and some aspects." Peter Straarup, the chief executive of National Irish Bank's parent Danske Bank, Irish Independent, 30.10.2008

"Once things stabilise internationally and confidence returns locally, the market should get back on track, but it will be a much healthier and more structured market than heretofore. Every storm has an ending." Ken MacDonald, Hooke & MacDonald, 29.10.2008

"The economy, people having more employment, income and confidence, a perception that you needed to own your own home, the fact that more people came here to work; we had to deal with rental demand etc, so we had to build a lot of units." Annette Hughes of economic consultants DKM, on the factors that contributed to over development, Irish Independent, 28.10.2008

"There is little surprise in these figures which continue the pattern of recent months. Looking ahead, we expect this pattern to continue for some time as both consumer confidence and the economic outlook for the year ahead remain weak." Niall O’Grady, General Manager Business Strategy, permanent tsb, on the latest house price index, 27.10.2008

"The banks tend to appoint receivers on a Friday and that doesn’t give the developers much time to put together the required independent accounts over the weekend if they want to try for an examinership." Anonymous insolvency expert, Sunday Business Post, 26.10.2008

"Due to the low vacancy rate and the fact that over 80 per cent of the demand for office is focused on the city centre, only marginal falls in rental value may be seen there in the near-term, while there is more of a risk for suburban offices to see significant rental value reductions," James Mulhall, director of office agency at CBRE, Sunday Business Post, 26.10.2008

"The fear is that when one creditor takes a legal action, it will lead to a flood of similar claims by creditors who fear being left out if the developer goes under." Neil Callanan, Sunday Tribune, 26.10.2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Please take our survey

Friday, October 24, 2008

Quotes of the Week

Week starting 20.10.2008

"I would say that over half the developers in Northern Ireland are waiting for a call (from the bank)" Brendan Cunnane, Construction and Property Group, on Taggart Holding's demise, The Irish Times, 24.10.2008

"Very reluctantly over the last number of months we've seen some very good people leave us through redundancy." Sherry FitzGerald chairman Mark FitzGerald, The Irish Times, 23.10.2008

"With the market in the doldrums, questions are being raised on why more detailed information on this sector is still not readily available to the market. How much is a house worth and who sets the price?" Pat Igoe, Solicitor, The Irish Times, 23.10.2008

"The property business has been cyclical since Adam was a boy. You have to expect ups and downs. But the up always comes." Ray Grehan, Glenkerrin Homes, Irish Independent, 22.10.2008

"There is now a widespread belief that the valuations of the properties which are held as security by the Irish banks are not realistic and do not reflect conditions in the property market." Bill Nowlan, Chartered Surveyor, The Irish Times, 22.10.2008

"The fact is that most first-time buyers don't need incentivising. All the available evidence suggests that they're holding off buying now because they're waiting on prices to level off." Brenda McNally, Sunday Tribune, 19.10.2008

"The overhang of housing stock is expected to take until at least the first half of 2010 to clear." Killian Jones, an analyst at Merrion Stockbrokers, Irish Independent, 18.10.2008

Friday, October 17, 2008

Quotes of the Week

Week starting 13.10.2008

"It's a mortgage at a commercial rate, there's no incentive in it, it's there solely to address the credit crunch and it seems like there is a lot of people in that category" Junior Housing Minister Michael Finneran, on the Home Choice Loan scheme, Irish Independent, 17.10.2008

"The pullback on tracker mortgages is having a significant impact on the choice of mortgages available. This is also likely to have a significant negative impact on borrowing as lenders are likely to use standard variable rates as a significant tool to control their own costs," Frank Conway of Irish Mortgage Corporation, Irish Independent, 16.10.2008

"The increase in the rate of mortgage interest relief is a positive measure for first time buyers. In essence a first time buyer couple can reduce the cost of their monthly mortgage by up to €416 which when combined with the more competitive mortgage rates in the market is a very positive result and will enhance affordability for first time buyers in the market place." Marian Finnegan, Chief Economist, Sherry FitzGerald Group, 15.10.2008

"First time buyers are the lifeblood of the property market and this scheme should improve access to credit for those people currently finding it the most difficult to obtain finance from the normal lending sources, through absolutely no fault of their own." Paul Murgatroyd, Economist, Douglas Newman Good, on government measures to help first time buyers, 15.10.2008

"By and large, Budget 2009 reflects this way of thinking and while the measures introduced offer some relief to first-time buyers and include a long overdue cut in stamp duty on commercial property transactions, the overall impact on the property market will be minimal." Geoff Tucker, Hooke & MacDonald, 15.10.2008

"We'll have it . . . though it is no big deal. The 9 per cent rate was a negative factor and people went to extraordinary lengths to mitigate it, something which was in nobody's interests, least of all the exchequer." John Mulcahy, Managing Director of Jones Lang La Salle, on the cut in commercial stamp duty, The Irish Times, 15.10.2008

"The impact won't be immediate, but it's an important move,....What you really need though is confidence and also an acceptance amongst investors that commercial property values have fallen." Peter Stapleton, Managing Director of Lisney Estate Agents, on the cut in commercial stamp duty, Irish Independent, 15.10.2008

"It's like a bomb has gone off and it'll be six months before you know who's dead because everybody's bleeding." Banking source on Irish banks summoning a number of leading developers into meetings to discuss their debt situations, Sunday Tribune, 12.10.2008

"At the time, as he pointed out, the building industry employed a quarter of a million people and made up one-fifth of the economy. One might not want to "disrupt" it, but it was imperative to begin shrinking it." Brendan Keenan on Brian Cowen's Budget 2005 speech, Sunday Independent, 12.10.2008

"If the property markets are allowed to fall even further below their long-run equilibrium level, the worst fears about the economy's and the banking system's exposure to property will be realised." Hank Fogarty, Construction Industry Federation president, Sunday Independent, 12.10.2008

"The taxpayer is bailing out developers who overvalued their property portfolios. It is yet another example of how, like banks, developers never seem to suffer the consequences of their acts." Johanna Tuffy, Labour Party TD on the Revenue provision entitling property developers to refunds on their tax payments, Sunday Independent, 12.10.2008

Friday, October 10, 2008

Quotes of the Week

Week starting 06.10.2008

"The harsh dose of reality from the global credit crunch may be hard to stomach, but it was long overdue. And we will emerge the better for it at the end of this particular tunnel." Con Power, Irish Independent, 10.10.2008

"Despite the reasonably strong showing from the most recent statistics on planning permissions, I expect completions in Dublin to fall in 2009 based on the trends in new home starts." Geoff Tucker, economist with Hooke and MacDonald, Irish Independent, 10.10.2008

"Absolutely, it was there to be got. People were too greedy. They wanted too much. When demand slows down, the prices come down. Things have softened globally but we can live with that and we can still make a profit. I'm looking at the long term . . . This will build out over the next five years." David Agar, The Irish Times, 10.10.2008

"The banks were all afraid of losing market share, they clearly contributed to the situation by wanting to do that." Rory O'Donnell chairman, O'Donnell Sweeney Eversheds, on blaming the banks for the implosion of Ireland's property market, Irish Independent, 09.10.2008

"The first sign of recovery from the economic situation that faces us today will be six months after property prices stabilise." Ivan Yates, Chairman of Celtic Bookmakers and a former senior Fine Gael minister, The Irish Times, 09.10.2008

"Hindsight is, of course, a wonderful thing. Now that we're looking back on the past 10 years, you'd have to wonder how we didn't see the bust coming." Anne Dooley, Director of Winthrop Group, O2 WM Businesswoman of the Year, Irish Independent, 08.10.2008

"I propose that, for a specific nominated and non-extendable period of time, and with the objective of getting this massive oversupply sold, purchasers should be permitted to reclaim a significant portion (75 per cent in my view) of the VAT on their new home." Ronan O'Driscoll, Savills Hamilton Osborne King, on the budget containing measures to boost the property market, The Irish Times, 06.10.2008

"Payments have slowed. We're getting paid; nobody's not paying us, they're just taking longer to pay us. You've just got to manage your cash carefully. It has an effect obviously... Cash is absolutely king at the moment to everybody." Guy Hollis, Managing Director CBRE, Sunday Tribune, 05.10.2008

"There'll have to be a serious write-down, there's no two ways around it. It's the elephant in the room. When the auditors go in, all hell is going to break loose. I think there will be carnage." Anonymous, on bankers and property valuations, Sunday Tribune, 05.10.2008

"Irish banks are owed €110bn by the property and construction sector. It accounts for €60 of every €100 that residents have on deposit. As 28% of all borrowings, it is significantly greater than the 25% construction proportion of bank lending in Japan when the banks crashed there in 1989." Justine McCarthy, Sunday Tribune, 05.10.2008

Friday, October 3, 2008

Quotes of the Week

Week starting 29.09.08.

"The price decline originated in the Dublin market during the summer months of 2006 however it was almost twelve months later that the price reductions truly spread to the rest of the country. All areas of the country are now enduring significant price falls with the upper end of the market most affected to date." Marian Finnegan, Chief Economist, Sherry FitzGerald Group, 02.10.2008

"The dearth of transactions relative to recent years is evidence of the lack of demand for investment properties in a market where bank funding has effectively dried up and where buyers remain cautious." CBRE investment expert Sean O'Brien, Irish Independent, 01.10.2008

"Of the €12bn invested in property by Irish investors last year, €10bn was invested abroad. The Government's priority should be to keep that money at home." Martin Whelan of the Construction Industry Federation on commercial property, Irish Independent, 01.10.2008

"The amount of capital being made available in the current market is being strangled by the financial institutions who are refusing to lend to developers to finish out existing development or to purchasers who which to purchase units." Ger O' Rourke, Chief Executive Chieftain Group, Irish Independent, 01.10.2008

"At the end of 2007, the real prices of secondhand houses had returned to levels that may be explained by the fundamentals, while those of new houses were still overpriced by about 7 per cent in real terms." European Commission staff report, The Irish Times, 01.10.2008

"There is activity in the property market, but it’s at the lower end. As you move up the price scale, things get much quieter." John O’Sullivan, Lisney, Sunday Business Post, 28.09.2008

"Sovereign wealth funds will become one of the most significant investors in the world’s commercial property markets over the next few years. We believe that some of these funds might consider investing in Ireland, but not while the rate of stamp duty is at 9 per cent." Marie Hunt, director of research at CBRE, Sunday Business Post, 28.09.2008