CSO TO INCLUDE CASH PURCHASES IN REVAMPED PROPERTY PRICE INDEX - The Central Statistics Office has responded to criticism of how it calculates property price trends by substantially revising its price index, which is now set to include cash purchases for the first time.
The new index, which tracks house prices across the country, had been due to launch this week but has now been postponed and is expected to be published by the end of September, says the Irish Times. Including data on cash purchases may lead to a substantial revision of the index. The most recent index for example showed that prices across the country rose by 6.6% in the year to June, but once it is reconstituted, this figure may change. Since its launch in 2011, the index has been based on mortgage data from lenders only but now it will be based on stamp duty returns. Given that cash buyers accounted for about 47% of all transactions in the first six months of the year, and more than 50% in previous years, the index has to date only reflected price trends in about half of the market. The new index will replace the existing monthly Residential Property Price Index and will be based on stamp duty returns made to the Revenue Commissioners, which is the same data source as the Residential Property Price Register (RPPR), maintained by the Property Services Regulatory Authority.
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LLOYD'S OF LONDON COULD LOOK TO DUBLIN IF UK LOSES EU ACCESS - Specialist insurance market Lloyd's of London could move some of its staff to Ireland should the UK lose its access to the Single European Market as part of the Brexit negotiations.
The umbrella group said it is looking at setting up 'onshore' businesses that would include the establishment of branches in European member states, a spokesman told the Irish Independent. Lloyd's currently rates all of its European business, which amounts to around 11% of its gross written premiums, from its London headquarters and ensured the firm's head office would be staying there. A spokesperson for the market didn't rule out Ireland as a potential destination for the firm's overseas branches. Lloyd's main market remains in the US with 85% invested in the market coming from abroad. In an interview with BBC Radio yesterday, Lloyd's chairman John Nelson said the Brexit talks will require a joined-up and decisive government. "If we are not able to access the single market, either through passporting rights or other means, the inevitable consequences for Lloyd's - and indeed other insurance organisations - will be that we will transact the business onshore in the EU - and that obviously will impact on London's competitive position," he said.
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SPENCER DOCK FEES TOTAL €12m IN OVER FOUR YEARS - The amount paid out in professional, management, and receiver fees for the receivership of Treasury Holdings’ main Spencer Dock firm now total €12.4m for work for more than four years.
This followed €2.77m in fees having been incurred in the latest six-month period of the receivership, including €145,509 in receivership fees. David Hughes and Luke Charleton of EY were appointed by Nama as receivers to various retail units, undeveloped sites and part-developed sites owned by Spencer Dock Development Co Ltd in late January 2012. The amount paid out to EY in receivership fees now totals €803,888 since 2012, writes the Irish Examiner. The new documents show that Nama received a €2m payment from the receivership of Treasury Holdings’ main Spencer Dock firm in the latest six-month period. The receivers’ extract lodged with the Companies Office show that €4.6m was realised from the sale of 13 properties between January 26 and July 25.
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DAVIS HAILS 'ROBUST' STATE OF ECONOMY AFTER BREXIT VOTE - UK ministers have seized on three upbeat business surveys, including new data showing a strong recovery in the service sector, as proof that the UK economy remains robust despite the vote to leave the EU.
The latest survey, published on Monday, showed the August turnround in the service sector led one of the most closely watched index of business activity to its largest month-on-month gain in its 20-year history, says the Financial Times. David Davis, Brexit secretary, said the healthy purchasing managers’ index showed the UK would enter divorce negotiations with other EU states from a "position of strength". "Our economy is robust … the latest data suggest our manufacturing and service industries and consumer confidence are strong," Mr Davis said as he updated the House of Commons on progress during parliament’s summer break. Companies were putting their "faith and money" in the UK, he said, citing inward investment announcements from SoftBank, Siemens and GlaxoSmithKline during the summer. "Brexit isn’t about making the best of a bad job." After falling in July to its lowest level since the financial crisis, the Markit/CIPS survey of purchasing managers rose from 47.4 to 52.9 in August, passing the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.
