Debate House Prices


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Ireland Cuts VAT

2

Comments

  • Graham_Devon
    Graham_Devon Posts: 58,560 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    The only solution to Ireland's problems is to bulldoze the 17% of houses that are empty and get asset values back up to a reasonable level.

    Oh Hamish, get a grip you silly boy.
  • the_flying_pig
    the_flying_pig Posts: 2,349 Forumite
    edited 2 July 2011 pm31 6:01PM
    ...The only solution to Ireland's problems is to bulldoze the 17% of houses that are empty and get asset values back up to a reasonable level.

    Until that happens, it will remain an economic basket-case and social disaster zone.

    an even better idea - the exact same result [higher house prices, fewer house sales] could be achieved by a simple law preventing any house for being sold for [say] more than a 25% discount below notional 2007 levels, without the need for any bulldozing.

    :rotfl:

    seriously, the detroit article you cite: (1) seemingly reflects a passing fancy of one no doubt very modestly qualified individual, a mayor of detroit that he may or may not have been serious about; and (2) doesn't even attempt to make your risible link between bulldozing, "asset prices", and prosperidee - it just, plausibly, says that money could be saved through fewer, " police patrols, fire protection and other essential services", i.e. less spending by local government, the kind of stuff that's no doubt very important to a mayor.
    FACT.
  • Running_Horse
    Running_Horse Posts: 11,809 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Or give the houses away free to any immigrant who creates jobs in Ireland.

    Or use them as council houses with a RTB further down the line.

    Bulldozing brand new houses? You couldn't make up such nonsense.
    Been away for a while.
  • http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2009942/Ireland-slashes-VAT-9--Britain-cutting-taxes.html#ixzz1QxoV2Fqp

    Whilst it's refreshing to see that someone in the Irish government has at last twigged that you can't cut your way out of a recession, it's far too little, far too late.

    Ireland will remain economically doomed as long as their house prices continue to fall.

    The only solution to Ireland's problems is to bulldoze the 17% of houses that are empty and get asset values back up to a reasonable level.

    Until that happens, it will remain an economic basket-case and social disaster zone.

    i agree with a lot you say - but house prices in Ireland are NOT cheap. they have come down, but that is like saying a pizza that was worth £1000 is now cheap because it is only worth £500. no, it is still £490.00 over priced.
  • Mr_Mumble
    Mr_Mumble Posts: 1,758 Forumite
    Only if your name is Mr Ed.....

    article-1331380-0C207294000005DC-922_634x414.jpg

    Besides, unless asset values rise, there won't be anything left of their economy for people to buy houses in 10 years time. Unemployment is now at 15% and still rising. They have enough empty houses to meet demand for decades. Their deficit reached 32% of GDP last year.

    Bulldoze them and get the economy moving again.
    A terrace in Burnley costing £10k doesn't impact the value of a flat in Chelsea. The value of these unused homes in the Irish wilderness are not the problem householders in Dublin or Cork face!

    If the half-built house in your pic was on the books of a banking subsidiary for 150,000 Euros in 2007 and now is at 30,000-50,000 Euros then you're looking at another battering of the balance sheet if you knock it down to the low four figures. Such an action would mean another large deficit for the Irish government since it wedded itself to the banks.

    Parts of Detroit are an order of magnitude worse off. Some housing is valued at $1,000 or below on far larger plots of land. Under Detroit's circumstances It does make sense to turn the sprawling suburbs back into fields used for crops or grazing. But, Detroit has had 50 years of woeful governance and mass emigration. Ireland isn't like that, yet. Ireland's population was growing at 8% a year prior to the crash. There are hundreds of millions in Eastern Europe (along with Portugal and Greece!) on a fraction of the average Irish wage who are eligible to move to Ireland.

    The option value on the house with Shergar in the foreground is far higher than any such property in Detroit.
    "The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat, 1848.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Mr_Mumble wrote: »
    But, Detroit has had 50 years of woeful governance and mass emigration.

    Decline of mass employment generated by the motor industry.

    Life moves on in cycles.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    A strong economy and strong asset values go hand-in-hand.

    The Irish boom was built on debt. Unsustainable levels of.

    Dell was attracted by regional development grants, a cheap labour force and low rates of Corporation tax.

    As soon as a better cheaper option became available. They upped and left.

    So the Celtic Tiger has many more fundamental issues to tackle rather than worrying about house prices.
  • Mr_Mumble
    Mr_Mumble Posts: 1,758 Forumite
    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    Decline of mass employment generated by the motor industry.

    Life moves on in cycles.
    Fair point but major conurbations should adapt rather than die. London is no longer reliant on the Thames for its riches and house prices in Manchester are not determined by cotton milling. Gold prospecting California become known for world class entertainment and then, at the time Detroit didn't need as many car assemblers, innovators in technology.

    Also, the vast majority of Japanese cars sold in the US are made in the US but they aren't made in Michigan! If you look at the auto industry in isolation it still requires more than a declining "big three" for foreign manufacturers to ignore Detroit's skilled workforce and build their plants in the South of the country. So, I put Detroit's decline squarely at the politicians' door.
    "The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else." -- Frederic Bastiat, 1848.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Mr_Mumble wrote: »
    Fair point but major conurbations should adapt rather than die.

    That's why the land is being returned to agriculture. As it was.

    The golden days of the motor industry employed many people doing menial repetitive tasks passed long ago. Most of which has long since been automated. Thanks to the Japanese invention of robotic tools.

    The skilled trades were also made redundant by the early computerised Japanese machines tools of the late 70's 80's.
  • and the idiotic unions priced themselves out
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