Room to be happy over house price plunge

DEPENDING on your relationship with the property market, the latest results of the Permanent TSB/ESRI house price index will either provide reassurance that house prices are moving towards realistic and affordable levels or confirm one’s worst fears about home values being on a long-running downward spiral.

For prospective buyers, especially those of the first-time variety who are hoping to get on the lowest rung of the property market, the results will prove welcome as they confirm that the decline in house prices which began in the first half of 2007 is continuing apace with no signs that the market has yet reached its floor.

The index shows that average house prices have fallen by 9.7% nationally over the past 12 months, even though anecdotal evidence from around the country would suggest the decrease has been even more dramatic in certain segments of the market.