An Irish Diary

Ireland to get a major insight into its housing problem

For Your Diary: CSO report could present a picture of everything we wanted to know about the Irish housing crisis but were too afraid to ask

Irish residents must pay tax here on their worldwide income, including that from Britain and the North. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA Wire
Irish residents must pay tax here on their worldwide income, including that from Britain and the North. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA Wire
Mark Hilliard's picture
Mark Hilliard
Thu Apr 20 2017 - 16:40

Monday

Results: Netflix

Indicators: US NAHB housing market index (Apr)

An Sony PS3 is used to view Netflix during the Netflix UK launch in London on January 9th, 2012. On Monday, Netflix will announce its first quarter results. Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
An Sony PS3 is used to view Netflix during the Netflix UK launch in London on January 9th, 2012. On Monday, Netflix will announce its first quarter results. Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Netflix has 93.8 million members

Late last year Netflix promised us the next decade would be “even more amazing” but it wasn’t necessarily talking about content.

READ MORE

On Monday, the totem of this chameleonic world of entertainment content will announce its first quarter results which will no doubt further confirm its dominance in the House of Cards/The Crown-driven marketplace.

In 2016 it generated $8.3 billion (€7.8 billion) in global streaming revenue, a healthy 35 per cent growth rate.

By the end of the year it had 93.8 million members and has quickly become one of the biggest financiers of original programming in the world. Success stories of this scale are the stuff of TV dramas.

Quarterly projections by the company are a predictable sequel to last year, rising from $2.35 billion in revenues to $2.5 billion. It expects 1.5 million new customers in the US and 3.7 million internationally.

Its last quarter marked the 10th anniversary and, in a note to investors, it made the aforementioned vow on the coming decades “as we strive to remain a leader”.

Ireland-specific information is as hard to come by as a VHS tape, but the streaming service now floods into television sets across 190 countries, supplying more than 125 million hours to shows and movies.

Tuesday

Results: Danone (Q1 sales), Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Harley Davidson

Indicators: US manufacturing and industrial production (Mar), housing starts (Mar);

Meetings: Danone AGM.

Wednesday

Results: Associated British Foods (interim), American Express, Debenhams, Morgan Stanley, Unilever

Indicators: Irish balance of trade (Feb), residential property prices (Feb); Euro zone inflation (Mar); US mortgage applications (Apr)

Meetings: Small Business. Big Plans: Women's Business Network funding info session with Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (InterContinental Dublin)

Thursday

Results: Panalpina (Q1); Kuehne & Nagel (Q1), American Airlines, Blackstone Group, Mattel, Philip Morris International, Visa,

Indicators: Euro zone consumer confidence (Apr), construction output (Feb); German PPI (Mar); US jobless claims (Apr)

Meetings: CSO publishes housing report based on Census 2016; Irish International Business Network keynote event with Anne Heraty, chief executive of Cpl (Bank of Ireland, College Green)

CSO housing report due

Ireland is about to get a major insight into its housing problem and it may be a tough lesson in confirming what we already suspect.

The first of its kind since the housing crisis matured in recent years, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is due to publish on Thursday a characteristically substantial and majorly anticipated report.

While just one of 11 thematic releases is based on census data (these reports are released every five years), the housing module has been put to the top of the pile, an unsurprising reflection of its relative importance to the Irish economy.

According to the CSO, its report will cover total housing stock, building stock and multi-occupancy buildings. It will look at tenure and rent and how these patterns have changed over time, including the age at which people own rather than rent their home.

With spiralling rent to the fore of public discourse, the CSO data will examine exactly how levels have changed in various areas. It will look at rooms-per-person and overcrowding; vacant dwellings including type of property, vacancy in towns, distance to nearest town, and long-term vacancies (looking back to 2011 comparisons).

There will also be supplementary analysis on the reasons properties remain vacant, compiled on foot of meetings with both the Housing Agency and the Department of Housing. In short, the data could present a picture of everything we wanted to know about the Irish housing crisis but were too afraid to ask.

Friday

Results: General Electric, Honeywell International

Indicators: Irish wholesale prices (Mar); Euro zone manufacturing PMI (Apr); UK retail sales (Mar); German manufacturing PMI (Apr); US manufacturing PMI (Apr), home sales (Mar)

Meetings: Ideal Home Show (RDS, Dublin 4)