living:room, Reveal potential when buying, selling or extending your home

Buying a Home - Challenges and Opportunities

	At a time when there is so much risk involved in buying a home, would you like to know: If your dream home has potential to add space & add value? If that potential will help it weather the market? If it has the flexibility to adapt to your lifestyle? How can living:room help?


	The Challenges With house prices dropping after over 10 years of growth and housing supply exceeding demand, it’s a buyer’s market but it’s not all plain sailing. Mortgage rates are on the move and this, along with restrictions in lending criteria and continuing changes in the housing market, is reducing buyer confidence. The Opportunities However, lower prices, greater choice and lower stamp duty levels are all good news. Some industry experts have described the current market as ‘the biggest buying opportunity in a generation’. Whilst the slow down in the building industry has had a huge impact on the economy, it should also make it easier and more cost effective to carry out building work and improvements to your home. How Does this Affect You? If you are looking to buy a home in the current market, the key is to plan ahead. Do you want to go travelling in a couple of years and rent your property out? Location and amenities could influence your choice. Are you planning on getting married or starting a family? Moving costs can be in excess of €30,000 (excluding deposits) - considering your likely needs over the next five years will save you the hassle and expensive of moving again in the short term. Look for a property that meets your current needs and also has the opportunity to add space and value. This will reduce your initial costs and help ‘future-proof’ your home against changes in lifestyle and in the market. How living:room can help: A living:room property report can: Identify the opportunity to add space and value to a property, Identify if there is enough potential to ‘future-proof’ your home against fluctuations in market; Determine if your chosen property will provide enough extra space to work for you in longer term, avoiding the expense of moving to meet lifestyle changes. View a report >> For more information call us now on 087 678 0895 or fill in the enquiry form on our contact page >>

What's the story?

The Permanent TSB / ERSI House Index report for end of year 2008 indicated that house prices dropped nationally by on average 9.1% for the year (13.3% when adjusted for inflation), compared to a fall of 7.3% in 2007.
Dublin house prices which saw a sharp falls in Oct and December, saw an average decline of 11.7% compared to an average of 10.2% elsewhere in the country - the steepest declines were in the commuter counties around Dublin - Wicklow, Kildare, Meath & Louth - where average prices fell by 16.8% during the year.
Falls in interest rates have been good news for existing homeowners but there have been further restrictions on new mortgage lending in the wake of the Banking Crisis in 2008. However, the Government have announced that under the recapitalisation of the AIB and Bank of Ireland, mortgage lending by these institutions will increase by 30% in 2009.
A survey published by the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute in Jan 09, indicated that their members did not expect the market to improve until 2010, with a predicted fall in house prices of between 5 - 10% this year.

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