Supply problems persist but hopes rise as busiest time for buying arrives

With Easter been and gone, and longer evenings under way, this is traditionally the busiest time of the year for the property market. Homeowners opt to show their homes in their best light (literally),but this year the rush is likely to be more subdued, given that supply remains restricted.

One agent (part of one of the larger chains) I spoke to said there had been fears that they were simply running out of stock to sell. However, she noted that they had been relieved to find that this wasn’t going to be the case thanks to a flurry of homeowners looking to sell up.

For house hunters in the capital like us, it’s also a relief to think that there might be more houses to consider, although there is still likely to be a dearth of new builds, with many “new developments” still selling properties that were built at the tail end of the boom.

The Honeypark development in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, is an exception however, as a third phase of family homes was launched there this week, with prices ranging from €435,000 for a four-bed. The development caught my eye because of its “A” energy rating, which has got to be attractive in terms of heating bills, but we're still after the space that an older property can afford.

Others however, have opted to purchase there. Indeed the property price register shows that 13 houses were sold since its second phase launch last April – hardly reminiscent of the boom years, but steady nonetheless. And it doesn’t look like there are deals to be had, with most of the sale prices coming in close to or above the starting prices, according to the register.

Elsewhere, I’ve noticed a lot of individual new builds that are coming on to the market. These tend to be built in someone’s garden, and the obvious downside is that gardens tend to be on the minimal side. You can easily spot them by the “A” in the number of the house.

But, given their relative scarcity, even these new builds can attract a premium.

We visited one in Deansgrange last autumn, which was built at the end of someone’s garden. A well-designed detached house, it really stood out in terms of its finish and how bright it was compared with older properties we had viewed. On the market for €450,000, it eventually sold for close to €600,000.

Outside of Dublin, new developments might also be in short supply, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t new properties to be bought, thanks to the overhang of the Celtic Tiger years.

However, it’s more probable that you might get a deal on such a property, given the most recent price index from the Central Statistics Office. It shows that while prices are rising again in the capital, outside of Dublin prices continue to fall, leading to a bifurcation in the national property market.

This is unlikely to surprise anyone searching for a family home in Dublin. If you watch price reductions closely on a property portal, you’ll see that the vast majority of price cuts are now for properties located outside the capital.

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I was in Paris visiting family over Easter and was intrigued by how their property tax works. Unlike the situation here, which has homeowners the length and breadth of the country scratching their heads over which value to assign to their property, there is no such confusion in France.

Instead, homeowners receive a form detailing the exact amount of the tax they must pay, as well as a breakdown on who receives what (ie, equivalent of county council or regional council) – and it even includes the cost of annual bin charges (€402 a year in this particular corner of Paris).

The value is largely determined by rental values, which are driven by square footage and location. This means that it is not left up to homeowners to self-assess the value of their property, so the only stress involved is actually paying the bill.

It does make you wonder why a more straightforward approach could not have been adopted here.

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A sobering statistic for those looking for a mortgage. According to AIB's recent results, it wrote 46 per cent of all mortgages in the Irish market last year. That's almost one in two, which means that if you're looking for a mortgage and AIB turns you down, you might just find it that bit more difficult to get financing.