Get your house in order

by Mike

Ireland was (maybe it still is) looked upon as a thriving country where thanks to the Celtic Tiger we were all rolling in a huge pit of money and generally we can afford some of the finer things in life that we want.

Now maybe that’s the perfect world and pretty picture that has been printed since 1999 onwards but to me things have changed dramatically since then. I am one of the many in this country that cannot afford to buy a house. How “many” are there, you may ask?

Well, according to the Central Bank, only 40% of households would now qualify for a mortgage on an average new home which is disturbing for those of us who are looking for ways to make the first step on the property ladder.

The average price paid for a house in July was €301,267. This figure has changed little from the previous year. What it has led to over the last few years is that people are buying houses in any area just to own something somewhere and thus they cannot afford to be choosy about where they live.

Can we blame the previous generations for owning more then one property and thus leading us into this predicament? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that young couples are signing long term mortgages and probably not considering the consequences of their actions until it is too late.

Apparently the figures from July of this year shows that house prices have fallen by 0.7% over the past 12 months or by around €9,000 for the first seven months of 2007. On the other hand the Permanent TSB/ESRI House Price Index found, in 2006, that house prices in Ireland had increased by 270% over the previous ten years.

Either way the cost of living in this country has meant that no matter what your circumstance it’s going to be a struggle of some sort to live and work. Yes there are people who have gained a lot of money from the rise of the tiger, but at the same time there are those who are suffering from the backlash too.

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.