Crisis now a real threat to stability - House prices

IN the last four years, since a low point in 2013, house prices have increased by 60.5%. In Dublin, things are even more out of control. 

There, the cost of a home has jumped by 77.4%. Prices across the rest of the country jumped by a relatively modest but equally unsustainable 51.2%. This impossible merry-go-round accelerates relentlessly. Prices jumped by over 12% nationally to the end of July. Central Statistics Office data shows property inflation is running at 12.3%. In Dublin City, where the supply-and-demand matrix contrived or otherwise is utterly out of kilter, the rate hit 13.6%.

These figures are just one describing deepening distress. They are just one way underlining how preposterous it is to rely on the market to serve society, much less the needs of individuals or families — especially as that market is increasingly reluctant to pay a decent wage or offer anything resembling job security.