Every option must be considered - Managing property prices

THERE are very few subjects that provoke so many different views, that touch so many conflicting agendas, and generate so much angst; there are very few subjects that can have such a devastating impact on personal and national economic well-being as property prices soaring well beyond the rate of inflation.

They, and the unwise lending and plain greed that fuelled them, were at the root of the economic subjugation of this society, a subjugation that will continue for many years to come. And even if that record is almost worn out, it’s time to play it one more time or risk repeating the mistakes of the Celtic tiger years.

At this moment, when it has been suggested that the residential property market in Cork may overtake the Dublin market this year, it is important to revisit the insanity that drove the property market almost a decade ago and remind ourselves of the economic and social catastrophe an out-of-control market might inflict on us all — again.