Stamp duty may need to rise to prevent housing bubble

An analyst who predicted the property crash has warned the Government may need to increase stamp duty to prevent another housing bubble.

The warning from Frank Quinn of the Blackrock Further Education Institute comes as a study conducted by sales website Myhome.ie states property sales for the first half of 2014 were up 39% on last year. The study follows a report from the Central Statistics Office which found residential property prices rose 12.5% in the year to June.

“The problem is that bubbles happen all the time, and the time to stop a bubble is at the initial stage,” Mr Quinn told RTÉ, adding that the Government may have to make a “difficult decision” to increase stamp duty to drive investors out of the market in favour of owner-occupiers.