Ring in the new cheer

Conor Power suggests rising house prices could be a good thing and bemoans what he sees as our reverse negativity

WE are certainly living in strange times, when growth in the residential property market is treated with an approach akin to hearing that the country is showing signs of remission from a sort of national cancer.

When the CSO released figures late in 2013 showing that house prices had increased nationally by over 6% in the previous 12 month period and that prices in Dublin had increased by a stunning 15% in the same span, the news analysis reflected more worry than joy: