The Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers (IPAV ) is calling on the Government to concentrate solely on measures that will lead to an increase in housing stock in the country.
The IPAV made the call in response to recent CSO figures which reveal that the price of housing continues to rise. Recent data has revealed that house prices in Ireland have risen by 13.2 per cent in the year to September.
Pat Davitt, the IPAV’s chief executive, said the exceptionally tight supply market, in which about 50 per cent of purchasers are still cash buyers, is leaving what would once have been the ‘normal‘ buyer largely excluded and trying to cope in whatever way they can in the rental market or elsewhere.
“This is not a healthy situation,” Mr Davitt said. “We would urge the Government to halt all interventions except those which will most rapidly deliver supply. The lack of supply is adversely impacting virtually all home aspirations, from those who are homeless to the inability of many young people to get on the property ladder. And it is preventing the development of a sustainable property market,” he said.
Mr Davitt said the detail had not yet emerged in relation to the new €750 million Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI ) scheme promised in the budget.
“It is absolutely critical that this scheme is not spanceled with a heavy administrative burden or interest rates as high as eight per cent that were mooted in the aftermath of the budget,” he commented. “The scheme must facilitate not just the major and favoured developers, but the quality SME builders who have traditionally been the mainstay of the residential property market. Otherwise it may only help those who are already in a position to provide supply in any event.”
In relation to the HBFI Scheme, Mr Davittt said it must be remembered that as loans they will be repaid in full to the State once the houses are sold.
