Galway West TD Frank Fahey is proposing an initiative which he believes could kick-start the stagnant property market in Galway and provide first time buyers with affordable homes with little risk of loosing money in a time of falling prices.
According to Dep Fahey, many developers are not advertising their lowest priced properties which means many first time buyers are unaware there may be houses available which they can afford.
However with the ‘construction boom bubble’ burst, first time buyers are reluctant to enter the market given that the house they pay X amount for now may be bought for much cheaper only months later - thereby representing a loss for purchasers should they buy now.
As a result Dep Fahey is developing - with An Rí in Claregalway - a website which will be dedicated to covering property in Galway city and county and which is within the price range of first time buyers.
The prices of all properties included will be given on the site and will allow buyers information with which to compare and contrast the prices available on the market. The site will not be one in which houses can be bought. It is simply a consumer information guide.
Dep Fahey said that he has already spoken to a number of developers and that they are interested in getting involved and featuring their property on the site.
The website will monitor prices on a regular basis. Initially only those developers who agree to co-operate will be featured but Dep Fahey is confident most will come on board.
After this, Dep Fahey wants to see the developer and purchaser enter into an agreement which will see the house sold and the purchaser protected from any later fall in value on the housing market.
“I have suggested to builders that if they are giving the lowest price,” Dep Fahey told the Galway Advertiser, “they should give to the purchaser a guarantee - written into the contract - that if a similar property in the same development becomes available for a lower price within 12 to 18 months, the developer will give the difference back to the purchaser.”
The upshot of this is that if purchasers buy a property in a particular development and find a similar house in that same development selling for, say, €3,000 less 10 months later, than the developer will have to refund them €3,000.
Dep Fahey believes this will encourage developers to advertise their lowest costs and it will give first time buyers the confidence to enter the market.
“Developers are not advertising their lowest process but I believe this exercise will force them to do just that,” he said. “They want to sell and are under pressure to sell. It will ensure that first time buyers don’t get caught in a falling market. It will take the uncertainly out of prices, allow for the selling of houses, and re-ingnite the housing market in Galway which has gone stagnant. It will get movement into the market again.”
