In the immortal words of Donie Cassidy in the seanad on 10th April 2008

“We have a duty to tell first-time house buyers, young couples with no previous experience, that there is unbelievable value in the marketplace today. It will not last forever. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. I offer the House the benefit of my experience and my opinion which is all any Member can do. I will remind the House, perhaps in 12 or 18 months, when prices have again increased by 25% or 30%, that they were told this by the Leader of the House on this historic day”

It can only be good news for the country. Property prices must be allowed hit a natural rock bottom which they will eventually do even without the media & goverment’s desperate efforts to keep it high due to vested interests in their own back pockets. Low property prices & value for money will slowly allow people to buy and sell again and will kick start the economy again. That sort of bubble we had can not be allowed to happen again. I really think with the internet and public forums people are educated now & will not be fooled again into false money and crazy house prices in the future..well maybe not again for another 40 years :)

People’s new motto should be “buy the home you want not the house you can afford” it’s ridiculous that underspaced residences exist and that people were able to command such a premium for selling them. It’s morally bankrupt…why do they still exist?

A particular section of society, mostly first time buyers (03-07), who wanted nothing more than to own their own home, and have a safe place to raise their children, are now trapped in these condensed living starter homes (many are apartments), struggling to service a ridiculous level of debt, that they may never repay, as prices continue to plummet. Then one (or both) lose their jobs?

Commentators can talk the market & economics all they like but that does absolutely nothing to understand and help those dealing with this plight on a daily basis.

And nothing significant has been done politically, nor will it be done, it seems, to help them.

What kind of society do we want? To simply forget about these people in despair, hoping that they fade in time and become a lost generation, with no hope for a fairer chance in life like the rest of us who, for the most part, fell outside this period in Ireland for whatever reason?

Is that what we really want? I certainly don’t. What can we do?

Great news…..keep falling baby!!

So much for Bertie & associated sarcoptic mange mites about a soft landing. Really rough on folk with sky high mortgages and smaller incomes.

Great news for the people who went mad and partied and bought a house !!! We will end up with a 2 tier society. Another thing I’m fed up listening to people gloating because they think they were smart enough not to buy a house. Pat yourself on the back and keep your comments to yourself !

I whole-heartedly hope they continue to fall and I believe they will. They were soooo artifically inflated to begin with and quite frankly, for those who lose money from investing in property, it’s tough but trust in god and you will be looked after. I will wait until homes are selling for cents on the euro and I will buy my dreamhouse, tee hee.

We all partied.