Real Estate Alliance, the national property group comprised of some of the country’s longest established estate agents, held their AGM in The River Court Hotel in Kilkenny, on Friday, 30th November. The whole area of how the banks are now taking a much more professional view of how valuations are been carried out were key items on the agenda as the group looked at what the year ahead may bring for the property sector. The appointment of Michael Boyd, Director of Boyd’s Real Estate Alliance in Kilkenny as Chairperson of the national property group and Patrick Riney of Orchard Real Estate Alliance of Rathfarnham as Vice-Chairperson were also ratified by the group.
Real Estate Alliance members met after one of their hardest years yet but found many reasons to be positive. There was 100% attendance by the members at the AGM, no agents left the group in 2009 and the Group has no debt. The Group have recently acquired large valuation contracts for banks, various litigation cases and a number of Government departments.
The banks were on everyone lips during the day as some of the country’s longest established estate agents agreed that because the whole area of credit assessment criteria has now to be taken seriously by the banks and a consequent of this, valuation standards will have to rise. Real Estate Alliance has been calling for Irish valuation standards to match international criteria for years. According to the incoming Chairman, Michael Boyd, “the impending NAMA regime should result in the valuation process being put at the central of the credit assessment system.
