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POLICE IN BELFAST have arrested a man in his 30s following a stabbing incident in which three other men were injured.
The incident happened in a property on the Limestone Road area of the city at about 6.30am this morning.
The three injured men received stab wounds in this incident. All three have been taken to hospital for treatment.
The PSNI have appealed for any witnesses or people with information to make contact with them.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Reactive and Organised Crime section at Musgrave PSNI Station, on the non-emergency number 101, or the independent charity Crimestoppers can be spoken to anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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I honestly wouldn’t put much faith in anything any of the ratings agencies say. They look at surface data but rarely have any idea of what is actually happening on the ground. See Anglo’s rating history for example.
these ratings agencies play a huge role in forwarding the new world orders plans, they can force countries into awful situations at the stroke of their pen!! when the hell did it all go so horribly wrong??
I heard Daft.ie’s economist Ronan Lyons saying on the radio a couple of weeks ago that he knew many “American Investors” that wanted to buy up Irish residential property in bulk.
What is stopping them Ronan.
Prices still to high?
After Bank of Scotland Ireland selling their entire Irish comercial/development loanbook for 8c in the Euro just before Christmas.
Do you not think that this is telling us that Irish property is still very artificially overinflated Ronan?
The real question that should be asked is why don’t these “banks” do these 8c in the Euro deals for their loyal customers that have been paying them for the last 5-10-15 years+ instead of fire selling of their loans to Vultures and American Investors behind their backs?
We would all find/borrow the cash to pay off our mortgages if we were offered one of these 8c in the Euro deals.
Daft’s economist saying there’s loads of buyers? There’s a surprise!
BOSI want out. The price is reflective of that. The Irish Banks don’t have that luxury. The country needs a functional banking system. BOSI (owned by the British taxpayer) have no obligation to stick about.
Not to mention the Elephant in the room but these polls and articles must be really comforting (not) to the hundreds of thousands of families in mortgage distress
and the half a million families in negative equity.
Why not just have some polls titled
“Are you happy being thrown out of your home by the corrupt bank/government that conned you
and are you happy for them to sell your home to unknown vultures at a fraction of what you owe on it,
even though you have paid them €10′s/€100′s in mortgage payments of thousands over the past 5-10 years+” ?
“Are you happy that all of the culprits of Irelands bust are being rewarded as their victims are being punished” ?
“Are you happy to have billions of your taxpayer funds pumped into the corrupt/criminal banks that bust the country under the pretense that they are going to “sort out” the destruction that they have inflicted on the country” ?
After BOSI being partly responsible for destroying the Irish economy with their 100% interest only mortgages on the family home.
THE FAMILY HOME.
I’d say that they have a very big obligation and duty of care to their loyal Irish Homeowners/customers that paid them billions over the years.
Just because our “Fine Financial Regulators” an “Government” have let these reckless bankers shut shop and clear off unhindered, does not mean that they have no obligation to the distressed,very loyal Irish customers that they have deserted.
No, house prices will drop again after the property tax begins to take hold!
The first time buyers tax relief is gone now from this year too isn’t it? That’ll push them down a bit too.
I take it you mean mortgage interest relief, yes that has gone. But there are some exemptions from the local property tax available for a number of years.
Excemption available till 2016.
But makes very little difference the MIR was much better value but that’s gone now.
You forgot to include an option of, yes but there is not a snowballs of getting a mortgage!
When the buy to let properties that are going to be repossessed this year, start hitting the market it will cause another massive, if temporary price crash. So no, not even if I could find a bank to lend to me!
Couldn’t agree more ..The funny thing is.. some Banks have a minimum “buy to let” mortgage .. for example if you want to buy a house for 60k..(which is possible in some parts of the country) as an investment with a view to letting it.. you can’t get a mortgage on it.. unless the value is over 90k..(BOI) even if you come up with 50% of the value of the house .. Crazy ” Backward” Banks.
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I just want to leave this country…..I’ve always been very proud to be Irish, but every last ounce of that pride has been sapped by the current coalition who will only be happy when the country falls to anarchy and the only gardai left are defending the 0.5% of the population who have benefited from their pals in power
Give it a rest Rory ffs
Ruairi I did leave 4 years ago and also would have no faith on the current administration but don’t forget it was tge last one who put Ireland where it is. Make sure you blame the correct cretins.
Ruairi
So what Party do you belong to as a Member?
Well said , agree totally
Michael, you don’t need to be aligned to a party to have an opinion, you are allowed think for yourself you know
Sssh Frank he won’t believe you.
It’s the usual blab from people who don’t want to hear other opinions. your either a troll or aligned to a political party. I know I been there. I’m currently so I’m told aligned to SF FF and FG aswell as being a troll. . wish they’d make their minds up is all.
hahaha i know the feeling simon,
i’m a commie troll!
@ Michael. Why would he need to belong to one these impotent stale parties ?
Fitch are bang on the money. The fundamentals are still wrong for house-buying. 3.5 times the principal salary is a good rule of thumb, used without issue by banks prior to the boom.
ECB is under pressure to raise interest-rates, unemployment in Ireland is still high, houses are still overvalued and the only reason why property prices rose last year was because of government interference in a mortgage interest relief. Government interference inflated the boom, it’s what got us into this mess. Have we learned anything?
+1 but the morons don’t want to listen all they hear is….. blah blah blah blah blah… were do I sign for the money.
I’m not so sure if they are that bang on. if property was to fall another 20% that is a huge amount from current levels and would provoke landlords especially from other country to start buying up for investments (this would not be good for indigenous family’s looking to provide). Rent yields on another 20% drop would be extremely attractive,
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I reckon that there will be some more drops to come, but there will also be stabilisation over the next year or so in certain area’s, and we will drag along the bottom for a good while, A house in a good location will always sell.
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We are currently at a tipping point where it is cheaper to buy than rent, and banks will have to start lending at higher levels as the months go on so that they can get returns. banks don’t make money if their not lending. also 3.5 times salary used to be for when only one person was working, normal fundamentals for current family’s where usually both partners work is 3.5 primary earner + 1 secondary.
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average industrial wage is according to CSO for 2012 Q2 is 37,767k per annum or around 125k worked out for x3.5 then add on another persons wage say 25k you get 150k
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there are house out and around the city for 150k – 160k so I’d say we are not too far off the bottom. to take 20% off this would mean that a house around the city and commuter belts would be 120k . I am also seeing house in commuter belts for this price too.
If it makes scene to buy and you can get the loan then why wouldn’t you..
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And NO I’m not a EA, I’m just someone who looks at the overall picture. you can keep waiting and waiting but at some point prices will stabilise. and that is exactly what the country needs not increasing but stabilising stability sustanably
I wouldn’t get too exited just yet about these elusive “overseas buyers” trying to buy up Irish property.
They are well catered for, in well regulated, mature markets in the likes of the U.K where most of them are based.
When you say it is cheaper to buy than rent Simon.
Have you factored in that when someone is renting.
that the landlord is responsible to pay for.
Property tax.
Service charges (if applicable).
Insurance.
Decorating.
Landscaping.
Replacement of furniture, carpet, flooring, furnishings, appliances.
Boiler and heating system maintenance.
Emergency call outs.
All repairs.
All maintenance.
Chimney cleaning.
Gutter cleaning.
Driveway repairs and maintenance.
Pest control.
Ber certs and and additional insulation measures if necessary.
Upgrades to the property.
And probably all property faults, due to poor quality of construction, Pyrite, Subsidence cowboy tradesmen etc etc.
Have you factored in that interest rates are at an all time low and can only go up from here.
And that market rent is based on whatever people can afford to pay unlike mortgage interest rates that are based on whatever the banks want to charge.
Have you factored in that people who are considering buying need a 10-15-20k deposit minimun.
Plus legal fees.
Plus fit out, furnishing, decorating costs.
Plus all of the above that they don’t have to pay when renting.
Have you factored in the fact that people aren’t bogged down with the same property, in the same area (and the same mortgage for that matter) for 25-30-35 years when they decide to rent instead of buy.
The capital appreciation boat sailed a while back Simon and the job for life buyer was on it.
People should take a long hard look at the REAL figures and the REAL fundamentals before they pick up a property just for the sake of minimizing the losses of a corrupt/criminal bank that broke our country.
Off the top of my head I can think of 5 properties bought by overseas buyers… The Morrison Hotel .., St Martin’s House, the Burlington Hotel, the Gasworks and a set of apartment blocks in Ranelagh.
I don’t think anyone could explain it better. I wish more people could see the woods from the trees.
@ SMcB.
You might tell me how many of these “foreign investors” were given vendor finance and negative equity proof mortgages from NAMA when they “bought” these properties?
And why aren’t NAMA offering these type of generous deals to the native Irish homeowners who put their money where their mouth is for the last 5-10-20+ years?
Well said Brian. In fact, 15 years ago when I got my mortgage the bank (national Irish) would only do 1.5 times my salary plus 1 times my wifes, so effectivly 2 times the combination!
I wouldn’t buy a house in Ireland now. We bought in 2003, before it got too crazy, but still the quality of the houses/apartments in our estate is crap. Lots of things that were done by the builders need total replacement.
Why would you buy a house and have to pay a property tax which will eventually pan out at near €1000 in a few years time and interest rates are not going to stay this low forever
Interest rates are not going to stay ‘this low’….Jebus, who you got your mortgage with? Mine’s crippling me, and thats the interest side of it, never to mind the capital side
@tara We bought our first house in 1992. The interest rate on the mortgage was just over 13%.
People, including me, thought that was a pretty good rate – there were people paying more, a decade before and it would have been 17%. It went up to 15% over the next couple of years, before falling later. We literally had pennies left over after paying the mortgage/bills – we relied heavily on relatives for food (we always ‘happened’ to call in around lunch or dinner time, they never came to our house empty handed) for the first few years.
I’m not saying those kind of numbers are likely in the very near future but interest rates will certainly go up and could conceivably go there or thereabouts again.
Katie, my Dad bought his business in possibly the very early 80′s, interest was 33.3% (!!!) then, but he bought his business for £8000. In fiairness the value of money to then, is one issue, but I bought my house for an ‘average’ price, structurally perfecto, but cosmetically…I think Stevie Wonder decorated :P I fixed my rate, now I’m variable as its cheaper (at the moment) than me to fix, but either way, I can’t see how anyone out there (bar those lucky ducks on a tracker) would find their interest rate ‘low’.
Once bitten-Twice shy..Can’t afford it now.
Paid 350 in 2006, oh how naive we were. We thought oh we better buy now or we’ll never ever be able to afford and were lead to believe now was the time!! Just a little end of terrist, 2and a half bedroom (u wouldn’t put a dog in the box room), no driveway shared parking with endless threats (none of the neighbours talk over it), So in the year 2013 I can safely say this house is now worth 140 that’s a drop of 210! Everyday that rope gets tighter and tighter around our necks. You have to wonder sometimes if its all worth it.
I should mention we paid 50’000 deposit so mortgage 300’000.
Its quite mad to think that the more the prices of houses went up the greater the demand was for them and that more monies could be asked for them, generating the need to build more housing, fuel by the thought of getting left behind, and the right time to buy, each one fuelling the next vicious sage of the circle, Your story replicated thousands of times around the country until it was non-self sustaining any more.. POP!!!!
nothing mad about it, look, trying to con one or two people to their face is hard but conning a whole nation through the many avenues the government and builders had at the disposal. What happened in Ireland was well orchestrated and planned for and anyone who thinks different needs their heads examined immediately as we are 4 years into the downturn now and if you haven’t seen the wood from the trees yet you are never likely too
Simon, you have just listed the characteristics of a ponzi scheme, which is exactly what it was. The great Bertie property ponzi scheme, roll up, roll up!!
Might have been a ponzii scheme, but any link in that chain that was broken could have stopped it. No one was force to buy houses, or take out huge loans, people have a mind of their own and make their own decisions based on a variety of factors. (or should at least)
To many people come on here and shout out about the nanny state when it suits them yet left to their own minds they look to blame others for not protecting them. To get caught up in the whole blame the government / builder / EA’s / banks and for get about the people who were actually demanding the supply is just obsered.
Karolyn’s point is very valid in the fact that she felt the need to buy a house but I cannot see the valid reasons behind it from what she listed, she even points out that she was naive. This point replicated across the country thousands of times. So it is quite mad really, its mad the we sometimes don’t take a step back and start seeing the wood from the tree’s when it is staring us right in the eyes.
We bought ours in 2005, and we didn’t spend nearly as much as Karolyn, but we bought because it was cheaper to buy a house than rent a sh1tty damp apartment. And buying a house in Blanch was over €300 a month cheaper than renting a similar property at the time.
There is never a right time to buy! In the boom houses were expensive, but banks gave mortgages…in the downturn houses are cheap but banks won’t lend!!
You have to take a leap of faith…And go with the info you have at the time. It is a risk no matter when you buy
There will ALWAYS be people who say they are waiting for prices to drop more …and will never end up buying!
If you can get the money then you should buy buy buy this country needs you
Everyone’s financial circumstances are different. It’s not a case of is it the right time to buy, but is it the right time for you. If you are paying a lot in rent and you are able to purchase and it brings your monthly costs down considerably then it would make scene to buy no matter if the market was to fall by another 20%. But all factors have to be taken into account. like loss of jobs on both partners, amount of savings, interest rate hikes, added with LPT and water rates introduction, lack of work. or location of prospect jobs if you have to find a new one, and then then usual of kids, schools, amenities, and transport links. I think a lot of people forgot a lot of the basics in the boom times and were swept away with hersay of getting on the ladder.
well said simon good points
Everyone seems to have forgotten that the first time buyers interest relief ended in 2012. That is what encouraged people into the market resulting in positive end of year figures for Dublin. You’d have to be deluded to think that’s going to happen again in 2013. There is plenty of room for prices to fall further.
Interest Rates are high despite the ECB rate being at an all time low. The banks have shitloads of properties on their books that sooner or later are going to have to be released into the market. NAMA has properties on its books that are going to have to be released onto the market sooner or later too.
Talk to me when all defunct properties have been released into the market, the bank’s balance sheets are healthy and ECB rates have gone through their inevitable rise and have stabalised at a reasonable level.
I am buying a house tomorrow after I win the lotto tonight!
I’d love to buy but we just can’t afford it. We’d never sell the place we’re in for anything near what we bought it for.
I plan on buying this year..
However after the removal of Mortgage Interest Relief, my max that i’m willing to pay drops 20-30k (which i’m happy with)
Articles from Daft/Indo etc telling sellers prices are on the up will only further prolong this downturn.
We need prices to drop quickly to acceptable levels before people start buying again.
Currently there’s a stalemate out there…
1. The Banks are kicking the mortgage arrears problem down the road
2. Auctioneer are still living in the boom days and not being realistic to sellers
3. Sellers are trying to offload their incurred debts to Buyers by offering houses at prices that are simply too high.
With all of the above against property prices dropping and allowing more transactions to take place it will be a long time before Fitch’s 20% actually hits…
And how many young people in Ireland will have emigrated before we reach this stage???
There will be no demand to buy houses.
Houses are still over priced, there’s at least another 25% approx to go. These are the usual lies to get the mentality to buy going again, same as what contributed to bringing the country to its knees. People need to decide for themselves when it’s right and not be brainwashed by what the government feed the media.
The only Yes option is polluted with the statement “it’s a good time to buy”. I don’t believe it’s a good time to buy but we will probably buy a house towards the end of 2013. We will be conservative in our purchase, allowing for interest rate hikes and some further falls in value.
There is not one option that applies to me, as “Don’t know” isn’t accurate. I do know, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a good time to buy. There should be an option “Yes, it’s the right time for me”.
I agree Ronan. Not enough options in the poll. How about “I would consider buying if I had the money / the banks were lending”.
However, being self employed I probably woudn’t get a loan for car right now, never mind a house.
There is no value for money in this Country buyers beware.
Rip Off Ireland is alive and well.
For those of us who cannot afford the property tax.
This is a great scam that means after struggling to pay my mortgage for 40 yrs hopefully.
The Council will repossess my house when I die and my children will get nothing.
So I will raise my kids well enough so they can live in a place that is not a Banana Republic!
Ashamed to be Irish!
“Ireland is a Country that eats its own youth”
Just let us know which country without property tax you’ll be moving to.
It’s getting very close to that time
ECB won’t raise the rates, not with Greece still in trouble and inflation still going up. The Germans are in difficulty now and the cost of borrowing still needs to come down. The rate will stay stagnant if not drop IMO
Did someone say houseboat??? :-)
Personally I think it’s a great time to buy. I picked up the keys of my new apartment, located in South County Dublin, this morning. It was sold for €550,000 in 2004 and the owner absconded soon afterwards. I bought it from the Bank who gave her the mortgage for €160,000! I DO know just how lucky I am!
Congratulations! There are going to be situations where it’s the right time for people – individual people – to buy. We bought a house last year; we were lucky enough to be able to rent out a house, and make a move to a larger place for a family.
The price was pretty good value, it was close to family and infrastructure, and we’re planning to stay in it for good (so a few % here or there in the price over the next 5 years doesn’t make a difference).
When we were looking, we used a rule of thumb of annual rental x 15 as a guide to the value of houses as financial units. Buy at x10, and sell at x20, they say. In general, asking prices were well WELL in excess of that value. But, there were also plenty of houses, well located, that were not.
In short, I think the number of individuals for whom it makes sense to move is increasing. It’ll carry on increasing slowly.
We’re not going to have a year when the flags are waved, the parade kicks off and everyone can agree there’s great value in the property market again.
Wouldn’t recommend the purchase of a house built in Ireland in the last ten years. Saw first hand 100′s of houses go up in estates and rural areas all around the country. There were great quality builders around, but they were few and far between.
They were thrown up with little regard paid to longevity, safety or quality of finish and it was a running joke amongst the crews as to who could possibly be foolish enough to buy them even at half the price.
The best rule of thumb for property values is 1,000 * the week rent, so say you pay 1000 a month if the house costs less than 230,000 then it’s good value above that it’s not. This his worked in general over the long term for me anyway.
I calculate that at a 4.52% return on your capital when property tax and maintenance costs are included. That does not include your own time and headaches let alone the risk of rents falling in a couple of years as people move from rented accommodation to buying their own house. Rather keep my money in the bank, thanks.
And that’s if you pay cash!
Is that after tax cash on cash return?
If I had the money I would
We are looking to buy, but I think for the moment we will just have to wait and see which way the market goes.
The property tax will make hous buying a seasonal thing. From 2014 the person liable for the tax will be the property owner on November 31st –?not worth buying house from August on. Best time to buy will be December on but sellers won’t want to sell. Therefore, house buying and selling season will be March to August. Will they smooth this by putting a 1 and 2 on the tax liability like they did for car registrations!
Not necessarily. In the UK it is customary during negotiations to include the buyer paying for the council tax which has been prepaid beyond the point the closing date. Of course everything is negotiable, but I don’t foresee people holding off a purchase waiting for a 500 euro tax to be paid first. It will simply be part of the bargaining process when it comes to price.
@Colin You are right to a point. But it’s not only the buyer who is trying to maximise their utility from the transaction so to is the seller. With properties in negative equity at present, you are not going to sell just after paying half a grand in tax. A solution to the issue would be to split the tax into two installment periods just like car registration plates. A buyer would feel a lot better paying ?250 and a seller will only lose the ?250 on top of the 20 – 45% drop in house prices generally.
Its all about confidence. People buy prices go up. They don’t then prices drop. Supply and demand. I would think now is good enough time. When property tax bites yes I do see it impacting on prices for the next year but I do think by and large its flattened out
How can you buy a house when the banks are refusing you a mortgage even though you have a great credit history in a great job and have great savings and enough for a deposit. So many houses to buy and nobody to buy them
And give the government more money not a chance
With the Government not sticking to any of their promises (less TDs, closing the Senate etc) not reducing their huge salaries etc and still supporting those that took a gamble and didn’t lose a cent.
You can bet there will be plenty of stealth taxes in the pipeline so would you want to risk investing in a house when it will drop by 20% or more. I would tend to believe Fitch before I would believe this shower of wasters oh and FF/Greens/PDs were no better. Before you all forget, it was the FFers who got us into this mess with their fancy benchmarking, triple pensions, expenses, massive increases in salaries for TDs/Ministers. I am guilty I voted Labour but never again.
We need a new party for the people by the people, we need more Tony Gregorys. God help us if FG/FF merge in the next election, house prices will drop further and the only thing positive about that will be less property tax :)
Not a hope in hell
do it the American way, every one left their houses because they didnt want put/waste their money on a house thats worth nothing. Govt panics because everybody has bad credit after the fact. Gave 3 year probation and automatically taken out of their credit as if nothing happened.
Maybe if I won the lotto and incurred brain damage of some sort..
Should have answered “No, But it’s a good time to buy.”
What is wrong with Roscommon, how come you can get a nice house so cheap there, is it a particularly undesirable place to live?
There should be a ‘Yes – if I had a deposit’ option.
Very few houses are now coming on the market in the area we sold in late 2011. We thought prices were dropping and we would hold out until they dropped and tradedown and have the benefit of some disposable income for a change. Hasn’t quite worked out that way as the few houses now for sale are selling for 30/40k more than last year. What we gained by releasing the equity in our home, seems to have been lost and now we are priced out of the area that our kids grew up in and go to school. I don’t understand where this price hike is coming from, is there another scam going on? We’ve been renting since but have to move as the landlord is selling. Rental rates have also gone up. Don’t know what to do next, bank won’t lend us enough to cover this price hike. Think we made a big mistake selling. Anyway, one things for certain, don’t trust estate agents, I believe we were given the wrong advise. We sold our lovely home for 290k last Apr ’12, the same style of house in similar location/condition is now asking 350k and getting very close to this. How can this happen if house prices were supposed to be still coming down? Feel like Alice in Wonderland!
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