FG seeks new regulation of auctioneers

Auctioneers and estate agents must be urgently regulated to ensure young home-buyers get a fair deal, it was claimed today.

As house prices continue to soar, Fine Gael called for more transparency in the industry to protect consumers in the property market.

It was revealed today the average price of a second-hand home in Dublin has now reached €424,000 and one estate agent has predicted overall house prices to jump by 20% in 2005.

But Fine Gael’s environment spokesman Fergus O’Dowd claims house buyers are being ripped off by unrealistic guide prices which are designed to draw more bidders into the market and artificially inflate the value of properties.

“Guide prices set by estate agents and auctioneers should reflect the true market value of a property,” he said.

“Home buyers are not getting a fair deal at the moment and the Government needs to step in,” he said.

“It’s simply impossible at the moment for young people to escape the rent trap and get their feet on the property ladder.”

Last May a house in Chapelizod in Dublin was given a guide price of €400,000 but actually sold for €905,000 – a jump of 120%.

On average, properties have been going for 34% above their guide prices in 2005, while one in six have sold for more than 50% above.

A working group hired by Justice Minister Michael McDowell recently recommended setting up an Auctioneers and Estate Agents Regulatory Authority to regulate the industry.

Mr McDowell called for a study of the market after consumer complaints about guide prices and ’gazumping’ – sellers making a deal with a buyer but later changing their minds when they get a bigger offer.

The industry currently has its own code of conduct and operators get licences through the courts.

Douglas Newman Good said today that the average price of a second-hand home in Dublin had reached €424,000 between April and June. It also found that half of such properties were bought by first-time buyers.

Dublin’s largest estate agency, Sherry FitzGerald recently raised its forecast for average second-hand house price inflation in Dublin for this year to 20%.