BPFI Mortgage Figures – Trend in Right Direction But Supply is Primary Impediment
The latest Banking and Payments Federation Ireland figures showing very steady improvement in mortgage lending is to be welcomed but the big impediment keeping the market out of kilter with what could be considered the norm is the massive deficit in supply, according to Brokers Ireland.
Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at Brokers Ireland.
Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at the organisation which represents 1,300 broker firms, said: “While supply is growing from an incredibly low base to reach 12,000 properties listed for sale on Daft.ie in the final quarter of 2017, nothing in the market would appear to indicate that supply will come anywhere near meeting pent-up demand for the foreseeable future and perhaps beyond.”
She added: “Housing demand is estimated to be running at about 40,000 homes a year, not including the backlog of recent years. Census 2016 shows total housing stock grew by a mere 0.4% between 2011 and 2016 while the population grew by 3.8% in the same period.”
She said rising property prices and rents are, sadly, no surprise in such a market. “At this stage something quite drastic needs to be done to grow supply. This is a policy failure. Home ownership is central to financial security, once it’s achieved at an affordable price. The situation is impacting a whole generation,” she remarked.
