Asking prices falling as reality kicks in

Westmeath"s house price fall has been the most dramatic, according to figures released by Daft.ie. But auctioneers have said the fall is even worse than that identified by Daft, which looks at asking prices, as opposed to selling prices.According to Daft, asking prices nationally have fallen by 16 per cent since they were at their peak, and even more drastically - by 19.6 per cent - in Westmeath.Selling prices, are, however, down by on average of about 35 per cent and by as much as 40 per cent already in some areas, according to auctioneers around Mullingar. However, they say, on the plus side, there is some evidence of a growth in the number of potential buyers making enquiries.Daft"s figures indicate that the decline in asking prices for houses on its site accelerated in the latter months of 2008, with asking prices falling by 5.8 percent in the last quarter alone.In fact, a release from the company states, the national average asking price fell €58,000 in 12 months to €295,000 - the same level as in January 2006.In the Midlands in the final quarter of 2008, asking prices fell by an average of 5% in Offaly, Longford and Laois, but Westmeath experienced more severe depreciation of almost 10% in three months. Since the peak of the market in mid-2007 all counties have seen asking prices fall by over 15% while Longford and Westmeath have been worst hit at 18 and 19.6% respectively.'Reality has come to the fore, certainly in the last six months,' says David McDonnell of Property Partners James B. McDonnell & Co. 'Up to the end of "08, any house we had at an overstated price, we talked to the owners about reducing the price, or taking the house off the market until the market stabilised.'It took a while, he believes, before people realised that prices really were falling. 'Some people were holding out, and only made the decision to reduce towards the end of the year,' he explains.He cites one house locally that was on the Daft site at €220,000, and was left at that price too long. 'The reality is it"s worth €250,000-€190,000, and and it should have been reduced earlier on the site to €200,000.'Typically, three bedroomed semi-detached houses that, at their peak, were selling at €250,000, would now be getting only about €180,000 - a decrease of 28 per cent, and in general, houses are down by that sort of amount, and 30 per cent and more in other cases, he says. Houses that were selling at €400,000 can now be bought for €100-€130,000 less than that.Andrew Duncan of DNG Duncan Auctioneers says that houses are back by 'a minimum' of 35 per cent. But, he adds, the peak came long before mid 2007, which is when some believe it to have been.'We would say the peak was at the start of 2007. April 2006 was the start of the slowdown. May 06 was the peak, and houses stayed level until January of 07, and then they started going backwards from there.'In Sherry FitzGerald Davitt and Davitt, Pat Davitt is already on record as saying that houses could this year be back by as much as 40 per cent from their peak levels, and Aidan Davitt says that because houses are already back to 30-35 per cent, the firm isn"t anticipating a huge fall this year, as the rate of decrease is slowing.On something of a more positive note, all are reporting that January is busier than normal.'January is not a busy month even at the best of times, but this year, we have been busy - with "real" buyers: they"re making offers,' says David McDonnell.Sales are, however, depending on whether the seller is prepared to take a bit less than their expectations. 'Only in the last few weeks, most sellers are becoming more wiling to listen,' he says.At Davitt"s, there"s been surprise too at the level of activity this month to date. At a time when last year, there"d been just seven viewings, Davitt"s have had 24 to date, says Aidan. 'If there was ever a good-ish time to buy, this would be it,' he says.At Duncan"s their experience is that the interest of those coming in is mostly in 'affordable three-bed semis'. He reckons his firm has sold more in the last two months than in the previous eight.