Sunday Property Round-Up, August 19th 2018

 

Before we get started, on page 22 of the Sunday Independent today Paul Moran,  associate director with Kantar Millward Brown,  has an opinion piece and explanation of the agency’s most recent consumer sentiment poll with the heading ‘Optimism takes first hit in three years as deflated national mood emerges‘.   He writes “The economic boom doesn’t disguise fears of downturn: Voters remain optimistic about their prospects but clouds lurk on the horizon“.

I have written extensively about the slowdown in London and or regional UK cities in recent months and this international market perspective might help us to understand the path ahead for Ireland:

 

From Sydney to New York, cracks showing in property markets 

https://www-businesstimes-com-sg.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/from-sydney-to-new-york-cracks-showing-in-property-markets?amp

 

Also, the Independent  has an in-depth pensions feature in the business section today that might be of interest to some.

For house-hunters, please note that the only property supplement appearing in the broadsheets today is in The Sunday Times.

 

As always, you might let me know if I have missed out on any relevant property news by emailing  carol@caroltallon.com.

 

If you missed last week’s Sunday Property Round-Up you can catch up here: https://propertydistrict.ie/sunday-property-round-up-august-12th-2018/

By the way, if you fancy getting out of Dublin for the day, there is a great new dog-friendly cafe in Hollywood with indoor and outdoor seating – three words – ‘ALL DAY BRUNCH’.  You’re welcome!

 

(Apologies in advance for any typos, it’s difficult to get good help on a Sunday. Also, I use voice to text dictation so just sound out anything that really doesn’t make sense in a strong rural accent and that should help!)

 

Sunday Read

 

Building quotas put communities at risk 

 

‘We must not end up repeating the mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s, when too many estates were ‘thrown up’ with little regard to design or community engagement.’

 

https://www.propertyweek.com/comment/building-quotas-put-communities-at-risk-/5098154.article

 

Also,

 

The role of strategic housing development‘ – Ireland’s Housing Magazine http://www.housing.eolasmagazine.ie/the-role-of-strategic-housing-development/

 

 

 

 

The Agile Agent

Getting  Ireland’s property marketplace digital by default

Estate agents and auctioneers across Ireland have 4 days left to apply for ‘The Agile Agent’ 12-month digital transformation programme, which will kick off in September. This programme will be delivered by a multi-disciplinary Irish and UK team and will go beyond proptech adoption to help agents get their industry digital by default.  The ‘buddy system’ is something that we have been trialling among a few existing clients in an informal way and when it works, that is to say, when trust is formed and real sharing starts to happen, it is great for both agencies. By the way, this is something that I encourage all agents (and all businesses for that matter!) to try out, it can be a great resource, like an experienced but objective sounding board.

 

For further programme details and free monthly Proptech Prompts, please

SIGN UP HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Property News

 

  • While there is very little industry news on commentary across the broadsheets today, one of the more interesting pieces appears on page 24 of the Sunday Independent by Colm McCarthy, ‘Let’s  do an Einstein thought experiment on rent rates‘.   He started by referring to the most recent Daft.ie report on rental prices, which revealed “the sixth straight year of relentless increases. Rental costs nationally are now one-third higher than they were at the peak of the bubble in 2008“.  He points out that while employment rates have increased, wages are proving much slower to improve.  At this point he proposes the thought experiment, which he explains requires the “suspension of disbelief  and the pursuit  of a fantastical notion to its logical conclusion”.  The upshot is that he finds restrictive zoning has played a huge and damaging role in this crisis in and around the capital and he concludes by stating that there is a straightforward solution to this problem.  *I would add further to this by saying, yes there is a whole range of solutions to tackle the housing crisis, however, we have allowed a sector to emerge within our property  Industry that is dependent on MANAGING but not SOLVING the problem. This is something I pointed out more than a year or two years ago, and the larger we allow this ‘managing’ sector to get, the further away from a solution we are. Where would all the well-intentioned housing crisis managers  and their underlings go? 

 

  • The lead story in the business section of the Independent today announces ‘1,200 more homes as Dublin steps up social housing push’.    These homes are proposed under a public-private partnership model with a UK VC fund Blue Castle Partners.

 

 

  • Marlet  is set to pay more than €30 million for a prime site overlooking Howth  Harbour  with potential to deliver more than 340 apartments according to Ronald Quinlan.

 

  • The same reporter also writes that the value of Dublin office deals exceeds UK regional cities by 78%.

 

  • Ellie Donnelly reports that house price inflation is expected to slow dramatically across the country over the next three years, which is unsurprising given the global trends outlined above.

 

  • Iput  has apparently “received the green light from the State’s competition watchdog“ to trade 40 Molesworth St. (Deloitte House) in a multimillion euro asset swap with State Street.

 

  • In The Sunday Times today Laoise Neylon,  Dublin city residents are complaining about construction works during “antisocial hours”,  as permitted under DCC licenses.   The Liberties appears to be particularly affected, with construction starting at 5 AM and in the Docklands, construction works take place from 4 AM.

 

  • In The Sunday Business Post today Michael Brennan reports that ‘Review ordered of state’s “rent before buy” policy after €92 million spend on annual rent‘.  This review has been ordered after news broke in recent weeks that the NTMA will be spending €175 million renting new headquarters over 25 years, when it could have been purchased for €164 million. Honestly, you could not make this stuff up!

 

 

 

 

 

  • Department declares an open season for tall buildings -Eoghan Murphy is fixated on the idea that only the sky should be the limit for Dublin:

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/department-declares-an-open-season-for-tall-buildings-1.3597500

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Proptech and Construction Innovation

 

  • International proptech accelerator open for applications: AcceliCITY

As recently reported, Proptech Ireland has been  selected to partner with Boston-based Leading Cities organisation to innovate technology-driven solutions for Smart Cities.  This is a massive leap forward for Ireland-based innovators, who will have the opportunity to pitch their planning, construction and property solutions to cities all around the world. It is also important validation for the work coming from this emerging sector.  This takes a decade of ‘Smart City’ initiatives to the next exciting level.  Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny was recently appointed to the Global Advisory Board and the global accelerator program AcceliCITY will now have a delivery based here in Ireland, in addition to the Boston program and Barcelona Smart City EXPO:  http://buildingirelandmagazine.ie/proptech-ireland-selected-to-partner-with-boston-based-organisation-to-innovate-technology-driven-solutions-for-smart-cities/

 

 

 

 

  • Estate agents are overvaluing properties to gain listings in the property market, according to instruction generation tool Spectre.

 

  • The #PropTech service, launched by Agent Software, has showed that continued overvaluing of properties could have financial implications for consumers and may affect negatively the public’s perception of estate agents.

http://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2018/08/13/estate-agents-overvalue-properties-gain-listings-research/

 

  • PropTech Today: If agents are overvaluing, is it time to look elsewhere?

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2018/8/proptech-today-if-agents-are-overvaluing-is-it-time-to-look-elsewhere?source=newsticker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Unlocking Opportunities in the Internet of Things #IoT

https://www.bain.com/insights/unlocking-opportunities-in-the-internet-of-things/

 

 

  • Are you an Irish-led or Ireland-based #proptech business?  If so, please take five minutes to add or update your details to our internationally-shared listing here: SIGN UP: http://prop-tech.ie/proptech-innovators-ireland/ and to keep up-to-date on all things tech and innovation for the planning, construction and property industries, head over to http://www.prop-tech.ie, the national resource website for innovators, investors and mentors or email news@proptech.ie .

 

 

New Facebook Group for Irish Property Buyers & Investors

Irish Property Buyers’ Handbook 2011-2019

 

As many of you might know, my annual property book The Irish Property Buyers’ Handbook (since 2011) has undergone a rebrand for 2018 and will now appear as part of The Property Insider series, published by Oak Tree Press, the first three titles are now published and available here.

For the first time, the 2019 edits will be crowd-sourced and will include home-buyer and investor queries, with crowd-sourced and editorial team answers. Join the Facebook Group here to contribute: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IrishPropertyBuyers/

GDPR for Irish Real Estate Businesses

 

Comprehensive Guide to GDPR Compliance for Irish Real Estate Businesses          

https://propertydistrict.ie/comprehensive-guide-to-gdpr-compliance-for-irish-real-estate-businesses/

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