By Yvonne Hogan

LARGE detached family homes in the capital have halved in value in the downturn.

Estate agents admit four- and five-bedroom detached properties in Dublin are now only fetching 50pc of their 2007 prices.

The Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI), which represents auctioneers around the country, says that houses nationally are now worth 40pc less than at the peak.

7th January 2010

Alan McQuaid, Chief Economist, Bloxham Stockbrokers, commenting on the latest Daft research on the Irish property market.

Asking prices for homes fell by 19% during 2009 and are now 30% below their peak levels of early 2007.

In its review of 2009, property website DAFT.ie says the national average asking price for a house at the end of 2009 was €242,000, down more than €100,000 from the peak.

The average time taken to sell a property is now nine months, though this has fallen to four months in Dublin where the number of homes for sale fell by 17%.

Irish house prices may fall for a fourth year in 2010 as the recession persists, a survey of economists said.

Home prices will shrink 9 per cent, according to the median of six estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices have already fallen 27 per cent from their peak in early 2007, based on a monthly index by Irish Life and Permanent.

Cowen rules out move to help house market along lines of car industry aid

By JODY CORCORAN

Sunday January 03 2010

THE Government has no plans to help people stuck in the trap of negative equity, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has indicated in an interview with the Sunday Independent.

CARL O'BRIEN

THE NUMBER of households receiving emergency welfare support to help them meet mortgage repayments has increased by more than 250 per cent over the past two years.

New figures compiled by the Department of Social and Family Affairs show that almost 14,740 people are getting the mortgage interest relief supplement. This compares with 8,000 recipients at the end of 2008, and 4,000 at the end of 2007.

By Joe Brennan

Thursday December 31 2009

IRISH mortgage lenders' reliance on short-term funding from the European Central Bank (ECB) dropped 18pc to €34bn in November as wholesale funding markets continued to thaw 14 months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Home loan providers were using around €2bn of ECB funds to finance their activities before the US subprime crisis erupted in August 2007. But the figure had shot up to €39bn a month after Lehmans imploded, before peaking at a record €72bn last June.