TOP END OF THE HOUSING MARKET SEES ASKING PRICE FALLS OF 7% - The latest house price survey suggests that asking amounts have fallen by as much as 7% in some parts of the country in the first three months of this year - despite the fact that fewer properties are being advertised. According to figures collated from the property web site Daft.ie, asking prices nationally fell one 1.2% but in South County Dublin and Wicklow, the reductions were 6% and 7% respectively.
Ronan Lyons is an economist with Daft.ie and he says that the the number of properties up for sale increased hugely throughout 2007 - almost doubling over the course of the year. South County Dublin and Wicklow - which the economist says are typically regarded as the top end of the market - have seen asking price decreases of up to 7% in the first three months of the year. After asking price falls of 1.2% in the first quarter of 2008, Mr Lyons says that in places like Connacht and Ulster - where there is a huge supply of properties for sale - asking prices are going to fall by up to 7% over the course of the next six to nine months.
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GOVERNMENT MULLS WATERFORD CRYSTAL LOAN - The question of whether there is a legal or indeed a business case for loaning money to Waterford Wedgwood to secure the jobs of 500 Waterford Crystal jobs in the south east is currently perplexing the Government. The story was broken in the Sunday Business Post over the weekend and this morning the Irish Times' Arthur Beesley has been writing about the issue. Mr Beesley says the company has asked the Government to underwrite loans in the amount of some €35m to enable it to keep the Waterford Crystal open. 470 people recently lost their jobs at the plant and it currently has a workforce of just over 500. He says the situation at the company seems 'pretty serious'. The argument for a Government intervention would be the protection of a large number of manufacturing jobs at a time when manufacturing is coming under pressure. The argument against intervention is that the Government would be getting involved in a company with already very serious difficulties and would be blamed for any forward closure down the line.
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MORNING BRIEFS - US employees of a company called ARAMARK will picket outside the headquarters of PriceWaterhouseCoopers at International Financial Services Centre later today. PwC is one of a number of companies which use ARAMARK. The US multinational provides food services to large companies around the world but its employees in America are fighting for union recognition and better pay and conditions. The picket is being supported by Irish unions, SIPTU and Unite.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.5731 US cents and 79.36 pence sterling.
