MANY HOUSES TAKING TIME TO SELL - Myhome.ie reports today that house prices fell by 0.7% in the three months to the end of September. Its competitor website, Daft.ie, has also published some new findings.
Daft.ie economist Ronan Lyons said its last report showed a rise of 2% in asking prices, but these had fallen back by the same percentage in the third quarter of the year.
Its report also shows that one in five properties which were on the site in January had still not been sold.
Mr Lyons said Dublin had been static over the last three months, but the city centre had held up better than other areas. There had been a small increase in prices in Cork city, but falls in Limerick, Waterford and Galway.
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MANDATORY PENSIONS 'BONKERS' - WENT - The Government will today launch its Green Paper on pensions. It was due to be completed by the end of last March.
David Went, former chief executive of Irish Life and Permanent and current chairman of the Irish Times said the Government should introduce an SSIA-type pension fund, replacing tax relief with a tax credit. He said nobody understood tax relief, and under a new system people see money coming into their account every month.
Mr Went called for limits similar to SSIAs - around €250 a month - with this being matched by the State. He also said access to money was a big issue, and people should be allowed to access pension money at certain times.
He described proposals for mandatory pensions as 'absolutely bonkers', and a solution was available with a voluntary system. Mr Went also said it was important for people to be allowed to voluntarily work beyond normal retirement age.
