‘Unholy alliance’ kept home prices high

ESTATE agents and banks formed “an unholy alliance” to talk up house prices — just as the market began to slump last year, according to economist David McWilliams.

His remarks coincided with research showing the Irish housing market was the worst performer among 21 European countries in 2007, with house prices falling 7.5% in Ireland — equivalent to more than €23,000.

But the presenter of RTÉ’s The Pope’s Children told a Waterford Institute of Technology audience that a housing downturn was a welcome development from an economic point of view.