Renting V Buying

figs666 wrote: »

very true , exactly what mcwilliams was saying

also people who should get mortgage can't also .

no buyers = lower demand for purchase price = lower price .

There are relatively speaking very few buyers for German property. Per capita far fewer property transactions per anum take place here than say, the UK, but German property is increasing in value in many places (ok, largely due to people looking for somewhere safe to invest, but even before the crisis, German property just "held" its value, even though relatively few people were actually buying and selling it).

So, in Germany at least, few buyers did not equate to cheap houses. It just meant that houses were unattainable for the majority. A house can sit unsold for months or years, until someone in a position to buy comes along and takes it. The seller, unless distressed, typically won't slash the price to get rid of it at a rate that someone who can't really afford it can buy it at.

If banks weren't lending at all, prices would not reduce to zero There are people who already own property who can sell and buy elsewhere, without needing a bank at all. It'll take a decade to filter through that the days of getting easy credit are over and that people wanting to purchase for the first time, will need to save up a substantial deposit like it was in my parents' time.

Irish people are too emotionally attached to property ownership (which has some positives, granted) to simply "give up on the dream" so to speak. They will go back to saving up a deposit and buying a basic home (for life, not to "get on the ladder") in their mid 30's and adding to that home as finances allow. It's a healthier way to home ownership if home ownership it is to be. House prices went up in the boom, but were cheapened at the same time by easy credit.

I'd say we're at the bottom in some areas, but not in most (geographically speaking).

Properties in silly locations tens of miles from the nearest job are going to keep falling (hopefully until the land they sit on is returned to the agricultural use it should always have had)

I don't believe the lessons about sustainable development will sink in until buildings are razed.

In South Dublin however (and likely other desirably urban locations), it's arguable that the bottom has been reached (may not be true, but I think it is)