Property values in Ireland are down over 20% from their 2006 highs, there are reports saying less but the issue in Ireland is that the Private Treaty treatment of property deals means that we don’t always get an accurate reflection of property prices.
Consider this: A bank makes a report talking about property values, if they take into account the value that a property is sold for they likely don’t know what it was initially listed at, nor do they know for sure what price drops it would have taken. Then there is the issue of property valuations going to brokers or bank branches first, in either scenario the figures may be called on for adjustment by the valuer before going to head office.
Why would this happen? Say (for instance) that a person goes sale agreed at €310,000 and the valuation comes in at €305,000. This will change the mortgage available to the purchaser. Often an adviser will then call the valuer and ask why it was valued for less than …
