Falling property prices are encouraging investors to consider coming back into the market but buyers should look hard before they leap, writes FIONA REDDAN
WITH TWO-BED apartments now for sale in Dublin’s city centre for as little as €140,000, for those not languishing in negative equity or crippled by salary cuts, the possibility of property investing is once again coming to the fore.
Indeed a recent survey indicated that a third of people would now consider investing in property, although statistics show that while many people may be considering dipping their toes into the investment waters, few are actually doing so. In the second quarter of 2010 for example, investment property mortgages represented just 3.5 per cent of total mortgage lending according to IBF/PwC statistics, down from about 20 per cent in 2008, with just 284 investment mortgages drawn down.
While caution is obviously playing a part in the lack of investment decisions, the difficulties in obtaining finance in the current environment is also a factor. According to Karl Deeter, operations director with Irish Mortgage Brokers, it is now “
incredibly difficult to get an investment mortgage”.
So what do you need to know before you make that leap?
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