STRAIGHT TALKING economist Colm McCarthy seems to have set the tone at last Friday’s annual conference of the IAVI which spent most of the day looking at why things have gone terribly wrong in the property market and what can be done to fix it.

McCarthy talked-the-talk on the dire economic prospects facing the country but hit a nerve when he reminded the auctioneers that we have been building houses we don’t need, often in places that we did not know even existed. How very true. The once strong appeal of tax-driven holiday homes in out-of-the-way places like Ballinamore, Liscannor and Achill is fast fading now that the Government seems set to penalise owners by taxing second homes.

If by any chance the estate agents did not get the message at the working session then the redoubtable former minister for agriculture Ivan Yates, guest speaker at the annual dinner in the Burlo on the same night, got a good hearing when he spelt out the tough realities of business life in 2009.

He also used the occasion to encourage auctioneers to persuade vendors to settle for a realistic price, something that could help to get the property market moving again. It is little wonder that Yates is now one of the most sought-after speakers on the after-dinner circuit.