Information a key ingredient to having a healthy property market
Would you rather tax gardens or jobs? The Site Value Tax debate
Buyer power: Latest rent figures suggest review of rent supplement will have an impact
Where is there oversupply in the Irish rental market? And where might there be shortgages? This post reviews the figures from the latest Daft.ie Rental Report, whose commentary is given by Minister Joan Burton. The headline figures suggest stability in rents, but that hides very different trends between the major urban markets, Dublin and Cork in particular, and the smaller rental markets. A comparison of supply and demand across the country suggests that rents should be falling faster in many parts of the country – turning the focus back on to rent supplement levels. Read more
Just like that! 200,000 jobs and the Government’s magic trick
In its first Budget, the Government managed to generate a correction of over €3bn without touching headline rates of tax or welfare, apart from a VAT increase that will barely break even. Magic, surely? This post explores the magic trick and finds it relies on the sleight of hand of assuming the equivalent of 200,000 new jobs in 2012, while still not grasping the nettle of reforming the three main areas of Government spending: social welfare, health and education. Read more
Fixing or just another fix? Budget 2012 and the property market
Ireland’s Budget 2012, announced earlier this month, contained a number of property-related measures. This post reviews them. One would hope at this time that any measures would be the bold actions of a government with a large majority trying to create a sustainable property market. Instead, they seem like the actions of an addict who just can’t give up. Unsustainably cheap credit can never be the answer, boosting confidence and finance has to be. Read more
Higher VAT is not about Northern Ireland, it’s about the Republic
Ireland’s Budget 2012 is being released this week, over two days. The principal measure in relation to taxation is a two-percentage point increase in the standard rate of VAT, from 21% to 23%. This post separates out the reasons why this is a bad idea from the commonly cited fear about people going to buy “up North”. This is not about diverting consumption, this is about destroying it. Read more
Rent supplement: time for taxpayers to use their market power
The last few Daft.ie Rental Reports have showed remarkable stability in rents in many parts of the country. This post outlines how rent supplement may be acting as a floor on residential rents in Ireland. It compares the ratio between average rents and maximum rent supplement in 2007 and now, which highlights just how serious the problem is. Working tenants can now effectively be outbid by welfare tenants, who have no incentive to haggle, in most parts of the country. Read more
Time to face reality, as rents start to rise for family homes
The latest Daft.ie Rental Report, released today, found that rents nationally rose in the third quarter, for the first time since early 2008. The urban-rural difference in trends persists, though. This post looks at trends by bedroom number, finding rising rents for family homes in most urban segments. A persistence in thinking about one national property market, however, will prevent the response required to keep an adequate supply of competitively priced accommodation. Read more
“Hey, Enda, leave those banks alone!”
The last few days have seen the ECB reduce interest rates unexpectedly, leading to Irish policymakers and regulators threatening financial institutions who did not follow suit. Danish-owned National Irish Bank had planned on increasing its variable rates this week and indications today are that it will still do this. This post discusses that decision and what levers policymakers should – and should not – be using to protect current and future borrowers. Read more