Property briefs

Stamp duty payment alert In the first five months of this year, solicitors in Ireland have defaulted on the payment of stamp duty on over 155 occasions, Dublin Fine Gael TD, Brian Hayes has found, according to reports in the national media. The findings have led to a call for house-holders to be alerted to be vigilant that payments they make to their solicitor for stamp duty on the purchase of a home are passed on to the Revenue Commissioners. Where a solicitor fails to pay over stamp duty for the purchase of a property by a clients, when the offending solicitor is 'struck off', the Law Society ultimately compensates the Revenue Commissioners. However, affected householders are still technically liable for any interest and penalties from the Revenue over the failure of the solicitor to pay the stamp duty. The figures for the defaults in payment this year, compare with those from 2006 to 2008, during which period the Law Society had to compensate the Revenue on over 200 occasions each year after solicitors didn't pay over stamp duty received from clients. Affordability is at '90s level Housing Affordability, at 14.2% nationally, has returned to levels last recorded in the mid-1990s, the EBS/DKM Affordability Index has recently shown. The EBS / DKM Housing Affordability Index is a measure of the proportion of after tax income required to meet first year mortgage repayments for an 'average' first-time buyer (FTB) working couple, each on average earnings with a 90% mortgage. It takes into account changes in mortgage rates, changes in the level of mortgage interest relief, and is based on average earnings and average FTB new house prices nationally and in Dublin. The index showed that the average working couple buying their first home is now paying around 14.2% of their net income in mortgage repayments, compared with the peak in December 2006 when payments were equivalent to 26.4% of a couple's income. According to Dara Deering, Director of Membership Business, EBS: "The real cost of buying your first home has significantly reduced, the Irish economy has continued to contract and personal incomes have suffered due to the changes announced in the Supplementary Budget in April of this year. However, balanced against this is the fact that house prices have continued to decline, interest rates are at a record low and as a result affordability has returned to the levels of the mid 1990s. The latest EBS / DKM Affordability Index can be found at www.ebs.ie or www.dkm.ie Prices drop but not as steeply In the year to June 2009 the average asking price for a three-bedroom semi-detached property in Cavan is down 14.62%, according to the myhome.ie property barometre. This compares with the national average of a drop of 18.53%. However, the barometer recorded a significant easing in the rate of decline in quarter two compared to quarter one of this year, in national terms, with the average asking price nationally falling by 1.5% in quarter two, compared to a fall of 6.1% during quarter one. "This latest edition of the Myhome.ie property barometer quantifies the weakness that the Irish residential market has seen over the last twelve months," said independent economist Paul Murgatroyd. "The results are in line with the weakness the economy as a whole has displayed in that period, a period that will go down as one of the toughest in the State's history. Unemployment has doubled over the period in question and consumer confidence has fallen to an all time low, brought about by job losses, fears about future employment prospects, lower incomes and lower take-home pay as a result of two budgets during that period," he said.