Irish Property Market chat II - *read mod note post #1 before posting*

Interesting, but it could be apples and oranges. Supply is low here because there are too many people here. I don't mean to be so blunt, and I'm not making a judgement one way or the other, but that's just an objective truth. Is the same true in Argentina?

On the matter of rent controls in general, they don't work. Supply and demand will always set the price, and the state cannot pass laws to make this different. History is littered with examples of this, and it never has worked. If a commodity is in short supply, the price will rise. If it is in abundance, then the price will fall. One cannot pass a law to prevent this anymore than they can prevent leaves falling off trees in September.

@gaming_needs90

Easier win an all ireland hurling final than get a home :-)

Kerry was identified as one of the most unaffordable regions in the country.

Rural Cork, Clare and Kerry were the ghost estate capitals of the last bubble. A mature approach to short term lets would go along way to fixing issues in these areas

Our planning system

But owner occupied house have a lower housing density compared to rented property. So a rented property sold to an owner occupied reduces the housing. Obviously it's great for first time buyers but it's bad for anyone renting as it reduces supply. They are not one to one. It's been discussed countless times on the forum. And remember we have lack of rental accommodation so any sale that reduces this supply is a problem for renters. For FTB it's obviously good as it adds supply to a tight market.

I think its generally couples or people sharing, so more affordable then.

But nevertheless, prices are crazy alright.

Is the sharing thing applicable to single, social welfare tenants?

Agree 2.5k is a lot to be paying each month. However,it would be interesting to see how much HAP is underpinning Dublin rents. Very often it is folks working in lower paid jobs who are in receipt of support. This in turn IMHO contributes towards setting a rental floor.

They're not mutually exclusive.

The population density is not high, you are correct. However, it's a matter of what resources and services are available. People cannot live in empty fields, they cannot be treated in hospitals that do not exist, they cannot travel on roads that have never been built and they cannot be educated in schools that are not there.

Could all these things change? Yes, but it would take time and resources to change this, and neither of those things are infinite. If the current level of available services do not meet the demands placed upon them, which at least with housing they clearly do not, it may be said that demand is exceeding supply; ergo there are too many people.

Yes, I understand your point.

I think the caveat is that there are too many people for the available infrastucture, rather than simply, "too many people."

We do indeed have a long way to go for infrastructure to catch up.

Metrolink looks to be delayed again; a current example.

Not so much the social welfare rate, but the management of assets. If a local council rents 5 x 2 bed apartments in Clontarf, would they be used to house 5 x single folks with no dependants or 10 x single folks with no dependants, in the latter case, the 10 strangers are sharing.

This is mostly correct, but its worth noting that as of January a majority of the population (69%) would support a drop in home prices of almost a third tomorrow. 63% of Irish people polled said they would like to see property prices fall even if it meant their own home depreciated in value. [1]

So a strong majority of the public, and even of homeowners, are actually OK with home prices dropping significantly. Its not a case of homeowners all wanting an increase in prices vs renters wanting the opposite.

Even if they themselves aren't directly impacted most homeowners these days have children, or relatives, or friends, who're meaningfully impacted by the housing crisis. Or they're business owners/managers who can't get staff because of the housing crisis. Or they just care about the negative impact of the housing crisis on the country in general.

The core problem is our government's political parties care more about the property industry than what the public wants or needs.

[1]https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/poll-public-backs-mary-lou-mcdonalds-call-for-300000-average-house-price-in-dublin/a1386646140.html

We'll never catch up to anything with things as they are, but that's its own kettle of fish.

Regarding the metro-link, I think it will never be built. Just look at what happened with the children's hospital, and no one will face consequences for that.