REAL ESTATE ALLIANCE Announce New Chairman for 2011/2012

Real Estate Alliance, welcome their new Chairman, Mr Michael Boyd of Boyds REA, Kilkenny, coupled with a wealth of property experience, Michael has a special interest in protected structures and period buildings and the planning and legal environment within which they are owned, operated and developed. He is a long term member of the Irish Georgian Society, An Taisce, and the Kilkenny Archaeological Society

Newbridge Farm sold at auction for €2.37 million

Brophy Farrell, Newbridge, Co Kildare sold a c.197 acre farm was sold today at auction for €2.37 million. Well done Brian.

CHAIRMAN OF REA RE-APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF THE VALUATION TRIBUNAL

Real Estate Alliance welcomes the recent Government Re-Appointment of Patrick Riney to the Board of the Valuation Tribunal, which he has been a Member of since 1994. He is the Chairman of Real Estate Alliance, a Director of Orchard REA, Dublin, and Vice-President of the Irish Chapter of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation.
Pat’s experience of the Irish and International Property Business spans over 30 Yrs. and as a respected Chartered Surveyor, he has extensive experience in Commercial, Industrial, Residential, and also has considerable experience in the Social Housing Sectors.
Pat deals with Valuations, Sales, Lettings, Property Management and all other aspects of the Property Market.

Philip Farrell announced

Real Estate Alliance is delighted to announce the recruitment of Philip Farrell to the position of Business Development for the Group. Philip, a recognised expert in the field of property will be responsible for the continuing development of the REA Group across Ireland and abroad.

Boom property details at last laid bare

Vast scale of operations of a State agency vital to Ireland’s recovery is disclosed in a timely and transparent way, writes SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent in the Irish Times.
FROM ZERO to a working State agency with €72.3 billion in loans and a staff of 150 people in just 20 months is quite some feat.Add to this the fact the National Asset Management Agency is one of the most controversial political creations and one of the most unpopular, and you get an idea of the work completed.
It was timely therefore that Nama should disclose more information than ever before when it published its first annual report, covering 2010, at the Treasury Building in Dublin yesterday

Great value properties on www.realestatealliance.ie

Check out the lower end of the market on the website as there are alot of properties under 200,000 for sale throughout Ireland

House prices continue to decline

House prices continued to decline in the second quarter of the year, two new surveys showed today.Property site MyHome.ie said property prices fell 4 per cent over the three months, bringing the total fall since the peak to 40 per cent.

Boots To Open First Store in County Roscommon

Seamus Carthy of Carthy REA has confirmed Boots, the international Pharmacy Led, Health & Beauty Retailers have taken occupation of a 4,100 Sq.Ft Retail Unit situated on Main Street, Roscommon Town. Boots have taken occupation of a unit that was provided to a shell specification by Mr. Carthy clients and a Full Fit out of the shop which will take approx. 8 weeks and will provide a state of the art pharmacy led, health and beauty shop is underway. Seamus Carthy of Carthy REA acted for the Landlord and Karl Stewart of DTZ acted for the Tenant

It's a Buyer's Market

According to REA market activity will remain sluggish throughout 2011 into 2012. “Until such time as the macro economic situation improves, employment increases and banks start to lend again it will remain a buyers market. Sales, if and when they occur, will be achieved by the vendors that offer buyers the best value for their money. Cash is king.” Concluded Mr. Riney

Prices down by 50%

A new survey by REA, agrees that prices “achieved” for private treaty sales are down by an average of 50% from early 2007. The group surveyed their 35 nationwide offices on actual sales in the first quarter of the year, looking to compare prices with the market peak. According to CEO of Real Estate Alliance, Eimer O’Keeffe, “to truly ascertain the level of the marketplace it is important to look at actual sales at private treaty, rather than examining asking prices in various reports.

Increase in interest from Investors

Estate agents in Ireland have reported an increased number of people viewing properties since the auction and an improvement in consumer sentiment, but they’re conscious that any improvement in activity levels is dependent on the availability of finance.
‘‘It’s been fairly uplifting following on from the auction, it’s been the talk of the town since. It’s very positive for the market," said Lisney director John O’Sullivan

Changing repayments on mortgage to bi-monthly

Irish consumers are conditioned to pay their mortgage on a monthly basis but this can cost a lot of money. If, instead of paying monthly, you pay your mortgage every two weeks then you could easily dramatically cut its cost over the full term.
If someone has a €300,000 mortgage taken out over a 30-year term and they make a monthly repayment, it will cost €1,610.46 every month, based on an average interest rate today.If they pay twice a month, it will cost them €805.23 each time. So they are paying exactly the same amount every month.
But when a person pays monthly, the total interest on that loan over the full 30 years is €279,767.35 or €777.13 a month. If, however, that person pays off the mortgage twice a month then the total interest falls to €226,466.56 or an interest payment every bi-weekly period of €289.60.

Unfair on First Time Buyers

MORTGAGE experts have criticised as "unfair" the decision to abolish mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers.Those new home buyers will lose more than €30,000 if they do not purchase a property before June when mortgage interest relief is to be stopped. Currently mortgage interest relief is available to first-time buyers for up to seven years after they buy their property. The changes to the relief — also known as Tax Relief at Source (TRS) — are outlined in the Programme of Government. The new measures include an increase in TRS for people who bought properties between 2004 and 2008.

REA national property auction.

REA intend on running National Property Auction at the end of May 2011. Further details to be released soon.

Low percentage borrowing in South East

Sothern REA in Carlow has reported a number of sales in recent weeks. They sold 4 rent to buys away in the last 2 weeks and 3 small property sales with properties under 150k. According to Harry Sothern, "there seems to be a trend towards low % borrowing as purchasers are afraid of job security and they don't want to leave themselves exposed.

Properties under 150k selling for REA agents

Seamus Carthy of Carthy REA in Roscommon is reporting a number of sales so far in 2011. A Traditional 3 Bed cottage in Mount Druid, Ballinagare sold for €110,000. A 3 Bed Semi Detached in Ballinagare Village, Co. Roscommon sold for €85,000. A 3 bed Semi Detached (unfinished) in the Tarmon Manor Residential Development in Castlerea sale agreed at €100,000. A Traditional Cottage with 22 Acres in Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon sale agreed at €170,000.

The Property Market near the bottom

THE IRISH commercial property market is finally showing signs of bottoming out after three disastrous years.Overall returns for 2010 published yesterday by Jones Lang LaSalle in its long-running Irish Property Index recorded a fall of 1.6 per cent – a vast improvement on the drop of 19.2 per cent recorded in 2009.