Irish Housing Market

charmaine

I'm moving to Ireland from Scotland in June/July. Looking to buy in Donegal. Was reading some websites about the irish housing market but im not really the economist type. Can anyone tell if I should buy now or wait a few months til Apr/May 2007. Im a first time buyer.:j

talksalot81

charmaine wrote:

I'm moving to Ireland from Scotland in June/July. Looking to buy in Donegal. Was reading some websites about the irish housing market but im not really the economist type. Can anyone tell if I should buy now or wait a few months til Apr/May 2007. Im a first time buyer.:j

Irish market is well known to be rough although Donegal is not the hub of the country and consequently isnt as bad. There are recent reports which not only point to but are starting to chart drops in the Irish market. Whether or not this will manifest as something useful in a few months is anybody's guess. However, if it is going to happen, this spring seems as good a time as any to show marked changes.

So in my opinion, you are probably best waiting until nearer the time to see if the spring boom changes things. Alternatively, you may yet find something at a reasonable price in Donegal... which is fine as long as you are happy to be in it for more than a couple of years.

leftieM

I agree - hold off for a while before buying. There is anecdotal evidence for a drop in prices (okay - from my family so not exactly scientific!) although the economy is still doing well so a crash may not happen yet.
Bottom line - you don't have to rush it. The housing boom appears to be over (finally after 10 years!!!)

charmaine

Thanks folks. As I say im not the economist type but if the european central bank keep increasing interest rates does this mean I have a better chance of buying a cheaper house than what the crazy prices are just now?

leftieM

charmaine wrote:

Thanks folks. As I say im not the economist type but if the european central bank keep increasing interest rates does this mean I have a better chance of buying a cheaper house than what the crazy prices are just now?

Well if interest rates go up your mortgage payments will go up and you may have the same monthly payments for the cheaper house.
The problem is, if prices start to come down when do you jump on? It could be years before they hit the bottom and if you buy any time before that you'll feel you made a mistake.
If I were you I wouldn't buy now, I would settle into my new life and rent for a while - a year, say, - and then reassess the situation. If I chose to buy I would avert my eyes from all news about house prices thinking that I bought a home based on the best information I had at the time and its value to me was more than just its monetary value.
Whatever decision you make may not be the 'right' one on hindsight. If it is the right one for you based on the information you have at that moment then that is the best you (or anyone) can do.
Donegal is beautiful. I lived there as a child. I hope you'll be very happy.

talksalot81

leftieM wrote:

If I chose to buy I would avert my eyes from all news about house prices thinking that I bought a home based on the best information I had at the time and its value to me was more than just its monetary value.
Whatever decision you make may not be the 'right' one on hindsight. If it is the right one for you based on the information you have at that moment then that is the best you (or anyone) can do.

Ditto for sure! If you are going to buy a house for the rest of your life, it isnt such a big deal for you since things tend to average out over a very long period. If you did decide to go for it, you would be well advised to investigate fixing your mortgage for several years - the last thing you would want would be huge increases in repayments!

Further to Leftie's comments about what happens when IRs increase - an important aspect to consider is the real debt. If you take a big mortgage at a low rate, chances are at some point you will have to renegotiate in a changed market. Potentially you could have to then deal with high interest on a high value loan. A logic to 'buying at the bottom' is that whilst you may borrow less and still pay the same (due to a high interest rate), in the future you will have a good chance of lower rates. So not only are you potentially looking at a trend of decreasing rather than increasing rates, but you get a double dose because the total loan amount is smaller. Of course this theory is only worthwhile assuming high IRs at some point in the near to intermediate term!

GabbaGabbaHey

charmaine wrote:

I'm moving to Ireland from Scotland in June/July. Looking to buy in Donegal.

As well as the state of the housing market, you also need to keep an eye on what the Sterling/Euro exchange rate is likely to be doing in this period.

charmaine

As well as the state of the housing market, you also need to keep an eye on what the Sterling/Euro exchange rate is likely to be doing in this period.


Can you explain why??? sorry as I said i'm not that clued up here sorry:o

leftieM

It's been around 67p per euro for years now. I always knock a third off the euro price to convert to sterling. It's always pretty close (admittedly that's when buying petrol. I'm sure it makes more of a difference when buying houses!)

GabbaGabbaHey

charmaine wrote:

As well as the state of the housing market, you also need to keep an eye on what the Sterling/Euro exchange rate is likely to be doing in this period.

Can you explain why??? sorry as I said i'm not that clued up here sorry:o

You said that you would be moving from Scotland to Ireland.

From this I assumed that you will be selling your current house in Sterling (or at least that whatever assets you will be putting towards the purchase will be in Sterling), and that you will be paying for the house you are buying in Euro.

Therefore the exchange rate between these two currencies will affect you. It has been reasonably stable recently, but you need to do some research into what the market thinks will happen to this exchange rate between now and your intended purchase date, so that you can try to convert your Sterling to Euro at the best possible rate.

Also - I don't think that there is any limitation on transfer of currency between the UK and Ireland, but you may wish to check.

charmaine

Thanks for - never really thought of that - i'll never be a millionairre