Big money betting big on housing
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hi Mike,
I was watching property show here the other night and they had an item on Ireland (as we call it) and it said there was a new build surplus of 3500 estates... not properties but entire untented, unsold estates, is that accurate?
john -
Regionally, where I live in BC Canada, the market tends to be buoyed up by retirees. So although I don't think there are great increases in housing starts, I am amazed at how the market that I sit in, which relies on custom designed new residences, is holding up. I don't think it was really affected by the Sub-Prime debacle.
On the other hand, Canadian Banks fared quite well, as our laws prevented some of the gravitation to what turned out to be worthless paper investments. But as a consequence the government still tightened up the rules some more, and now marginal, or first time buyers are intently scrutinized, and there are a lot less of these mortgages being approved.
Housing starts are a huge economic indicator, so if these remain flat, no matter where you live, it is a telltale symptom of a weak economy. -
Yeah, we're seeing this here in my area. Anyone with money is buying up homes that are in foreclosure because they can get them for cheap. So they can get twice the amount of homes they would have been able to get 5 years ago. Its a good time to buy. BUT, it means that the amount of homes for sale on the market is at a long time low because the cheap ones are being gobbled up. And lots of people still owe more money than their home is worth now, so they are not selling until they are out from "underwater". Anyhow, its at an odd place right. Lots of people wanting to sell but unable because they owe too much on their home. But the homes that were forced empty by the banks are now being sold for cheap to investors. Wish I had some money put aside so I could afford a home, since they have been cheap for so long. But no luck. It'll be a while before I can afford a place of my own
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yes, whole ghost housing estates....
and banks won't give out mortgages to first time buyers so they sit empty....
A friend of mine lives in an estate of 62 houses where only the first 4 are occupied, 15 are finished and the rest unfinished.
there's even a 7 storey travel lodge hotel nearby where the first 3 floors have rooms the rest unused.
it's not all doom and gloom just a very harsh reminder of overindulgence.
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Rich how much does a home like that go for - one of the empty ones in the first photo. And I mean to buy, not rent.
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€180,000 semi-detached
€200,000 detached
unfurnished
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@rich o brien said:
€180,000 semi-detached
€200,000 detached
unfurnished
you'd get somewhere way out in the sticks for a lot less though.
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True, you'd get more sq/ft and a lot more land.
Sent from my iPad
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Interesting, I felt like US news was making it sound like it would cost like a million USD to buy a bachelor pad in Ireland. I guess they blew that out of proportion a bit....
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@chris fullmer said:
Interesting, I felt like US news was making it sound like it would cost like a million USD to buy a bachelor pad in Ireland. I guess they blew that out of proportion a bit....
I'll sell you my house for $1m!
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