NEW HOMES prices continue to be cut across the city, in some cases well below cost, but it’s proving difficult to persuade first-timers to get off the fence. However, this week’s announcement from Bank of Ireland of a €1bn fund for first-time mortgages may have a positive effect. New homes specialist Ken MacDonald of Hooke MacDonald also points out that, with interest rates now 53 per cent lower than 2008, punters are beginning, cautiously, to come back into the market. He says that price cuts of up to €150,000 per apartment have resulted in sales of around 70 units in new homes schemes across the city recently. These include units at Carrington, Santry; Arena and Priorsgate in Tallaght; Mellowes Quay, D8; and at Castleforbes in docklands.

Ken MacDonald is one of several agents insisting that it is now cheaper to buy than to rent, particularly for those who negotiate additional deals on purchase prices, or extras from developers. “It is very encouraging to see first-time buyers out viewing again in fairly good numbers,” he said earlier this week. There has never been a better choice for first-timers, and while many are opting for second-hand homes, where prices have dropped by over 30 per cent, the volume of new homes available is likely to result in further below cost deals in the weeks to come.