While we may think we have had it hard in the UK housing market spare a thought for the Irish.
The country is now facing its sixth year of falling prices since the market peaked in 2007. Problems in Ireland were exacerbated by a glut of supply.
Now the Central Bank has, for the first time, produced an outlook on property prices after surveying 200 economists, property surveyors, stockbrokers and estate agents to get their view on where prices are likely to go.
Even the estate agents say prices have further to fall nationally this year.
The survey gives no breakdown by region, so it is not clear whether the experts think the Dublin region will escape the latest drops. Prices have been rising in Dublin in recent months, even as they continued to drop elsewhere.
The main reasons the experts surveyed give for predicting further price falls is the difficulty in getting mortgages, the potential impact of an increase in repossessions, the scrapping of the mortgage interest relief tax break and the introduction of the property tax.
By 2015, however, a majority of those surveyed think prices will have increased – though one in six thinks that is too optimistic and many think prices will not have changed from the end of last year.
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