Mayo woman takes up senior role at auctioneers' body

Kay McGuire, from Kilmaine, who is the managing director of Galway Property Services, is the new Senior Vice-President of the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV). 

Having returned to college in 2014, Kay was awarded Student of the Year from DIT (now TU Dublin) and attained a Distinction in a Higher Certificate in Property Studies. She currently presents CPD modules on Property Management for IPAV and is a lecturer on the IPAV Diploma Course at TU Dublin.

Meanwhile, commenting on the latest CSO House Price Index, which showed prices increasing by 7.5% on average across Ireland in the 12 months to April, the IPAV said it is in everyone's interests that the Government’s new housing plan due next month delivers the kind of transformative change that will stimulate supply in a way that no measure has done over the last decade.

IPAV chief executive Pat Davitt said: “It is now widely accepted that it will be next year at the earliest before any real impact can be made to advance supply, at any meaningful level.” 

Mr Davitt said the latest figures were notable in that only 840 of the 3,748 dwellings purchased in April were new homes.

“If that pattern were to continue for the remainder of the year we could see less than 15,000 new homes this year,” he said. “Equally, in terms of first-time buyers, with just 1,458 in April, the yearly figure is likely be under 20,000.” 

Mr Davitt noted once again the dramatic range in prices between the cities, particularly Dublin and elsewhere. He said it is not surprising then that the highest increases are taking place in areas like the Border (11.8%), Mid-West (11.4%), West (10.3%) and the Midlands (10%) where prices are substantially lower than in the cities.

Meanwhile, Brokers Ireland noted that the highest rises in property prices are occurring away from the eastern seaboard and people are now being forced to take on much more debt to purchase a home.

Rachel McGovern, Deputy Chief Executive at Brokers Ireland, said: “As a consequence of high prices, those who need mortgages to buy homes are taking on ever larger levels of debt.

“There are a number of different factors at play now that didn’t apply over a decade ago, such as the fact that many borrowers have higher levels of savings, be they of their own or with assistance from family; many are also on higher incomes but we’re also in a more volatile global situation where it’s more difficult than ever to predict how interest rates will go into the future.” 

She said relatively small changes in interest rates can have a huge impact over the lifetime of a mortgage.

Home prices are remaining elevated because competition is intense for “the scarce resource that is a home to buy”. And of course, those on average wages are losing out all the time.

She said: "The severely dysfunctional housing market needs to be treated by policymakers for the emergency it is.

“The Government’s awaited new housing plan, due next month, must involve fundamental change, it must address the impediments in zoning, planning and infrastructure, and it must be prepared to face up to and confront any vested interests standing in the way.”