Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 Jun 1999

Vol. 505 No. 6

Written Answers. - Housing Market.

Michael Bell

Ceist:

40 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his views on whether the proposals contained in the Bacon report are having the desired impact, particularly in view of the reports of people queuing for as long as four days outside auctioneers' premises in Dublin and Dundalk in order to buy houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14355/99]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

There is a general consensus that Government action in response to the consultants' reports on the housing market in 1998 and 1999 has had, and will continue to have very positive effects.

There has been moderation generally in house prices in recent months, which is particularly positive in view of continuing strong economic growth and very low interest rates. It is not just my Department that has come to this conclusion. The First Active house price figures show increases of just 2 per cent nationally and 1.7 per cent in Dublin in the first quarter of 1999. Second hand house prices in Dublin, which have tended to be a leading indicator of market trends, have eased significantly over the past six months, with an estimated increase of only around 2 per cent during that period.

I also welcome the fact that, following four successive years of record output, there was a 24 per cent increase in new house completions nationally in the first quarter of 1999 compared with the same period in 1998 and, most significantly, a 28 per cent increase in completions in Dublin where housing output had been relatively sluggish.

Progress towards house price stabilisation will be increasingly reinforced by the effects of measures taken to accelerate housing supply, including the serviced land initiative, the use of temporary treatment facilities for land servicing, promotion of increased housing density and the new local authority affordable housing scheme.

Queues are, of course, sometimes used as a marketing strategy and I understand that the houses in Dundalk were competitively priced from under £80,000.