Re: Re: The Question of Land

KB think you both miss the point on land, it is not something that can be compared to construction in terms of asset inputs to value. It is more a product of the bid rents that the market establishes. It costs not much different to build an identical house in Dublin, London or Cannes however the market bid rents are different. I do however agree that if construction costs fall some of it is likely to be passed on and more marginal projects become viable.

In Dublin you have a mortgage market based on three times salary, in London 4-5 times and in Cannes you have a product of imported bid rents from other markets.

For the market to recover four things need to happen; people need to be employed, they need to be in a position to secure finance, they need to deem the property of a decent standard or capable of being converted into a decent standard but above all they need to have confidence that prices will not fall any further.

The key steps are to stabalise the finance markets, secure and rebuild employment levels and remove stock overhang finally they need to rebuild the capacity to deliver a quality product and stable or rising prioce matrix so that a new market is willing to go to the finance markets and take on what is a very long term commitment.

If you concentrate on those 4 issues the construction sector can be restored to health in a 3-4 year period. If finance remains challenging or overhang persists it will take a lot longer.

If people pay €450k for a postage stamp plot then clearly the 3 year earning rule failed due to very poor due diligence and underwriting standards in mortgage lending departments. Not a mistake that one would expect to see for another 29 years or so. Another indication of market failure are the towns in the outer commutter belt where housing estates of 50 plus units lie half built because the existing 2,000 people in the town simply have no demand for them