Cost of Houses a joke.. but COME ON!

Re: Re: Cost of Houses a joke.. but COME ON!

I do!

In the area I am want to live in, apts are about 360k, and houses about 400k. There are so many apts been built, and everyone buying in intends to get on the property ladder and move up to to a semi d in about 3 to 5 years. Hmmm.

My dilemma now is that I realise this. However, while I can stretch to afford the 360k apt, which I expect to remain static, or deflate over the next 10 years, I cannot afford the house with its 30k stamp duty (ftb and all), without leaving myself severe affordability issues in the forseeable event of rising interest rates. Move to another area? I do not want to go back to the days of brutal transport and quality of life issues.

It appears, no matter how well I can forsee this market going, i have no option but to do myself over. I will not be comfortable buying the apartment, but what can I do?

The gap between apts and houses will widen significantly over the next number of years.
 
Re: Re: Cost of Houses a joke.. but COME ON!

My dilemma now is that I realise this.
Click to expand...

Same here. Same situation.
Of course I don't know it will happen for a fact. But with people having kids later and later, and with the population declining (if immigration is taken out of the equation), I can't see any future for Apartments, especially the poorer quality ones in not so hotly sought after areas.

The other possibility is that we'll just see a shift and people will have to start living in Appartments and raising their families in them. Doesn't sound like fun to me.

Although as far as I know it's kind of unusual to have so many appartments being built in suburbs, and a virtual halt on house building.

-Rd



-Rd
 
stamp duty on new houses

Hi EFM;

A small clarification of your useful post - the V.A.T on a new house is 13.5%, not 21%. This adjustement would bring the stamp duty back up a wee bit.

regards.
 
Re: stamp duty on new houses

Hi MOB

You're dead right ! - Thanks for spotting and correcting that error on my part

At least it means that somebody is reading my posts !!

efm
 
Stamp Duty

This is an unfair tax in that the Government have not adjusted it to take into account the fact that house prices have apopreciated so much. They see a cash cow and they aren't gonna stop milking it.

The Stamp Duty was designed so that those who paid alot for their house, were assumed as very well off and so it was ranked on a reasonable measure of affordability. All of that is now out the window as your common or garden Guard, Nurse, civil servant will now pay the duty, as they are buying the houses at a price which would have been the purvey of the rich many moons ago when these rates and tiers were established.

Look at the €190K exemption, you would be hard pressed to get that exemption in Dublin and the commuter belt. Jeez, they could even tier the payment or something.
 
Stamp Duty

I can understand the Government being reluctant to give up the income stream provided by Stamp Duty, so it is indeed hard to imagine it ever being abolished or even significantly reduced.

However, what about this idea.
I would accept the introduction of annual Rates (at a reasonable level) to replace the lost SD revenues.
The house buyer would not be faced with the massive cost of unfair SD up front and the Gov would have a replacement revenue stream that would be spread over the whole population instead of just house buyers.

And by the way, I would set the rates for investment properties at double the charge for a residential property.
 
Rent

And by the way, I would set the rates for investment properties at double the charge for a residential property.

Why? - so people have to pay even more rent?
 
Rent

No, if the investors were encouraged a little less then the market would cool off and price inflation would ease.
Then the people who are unable to buy houses now (and are forced to rent) might be able to get into the market at a more reasonable rate.

I'm a home owner, but the rate of house price inflation is too high and is unfair to the young people trying to make a start in life.
 
Renters

Why is home ownership such a big thing herre ? In other European countries, people are happy to rent all their lives.

Owning a house doesn't prevent you from making a start in life: quite the opposite in fact. House ownership might prevent you from taking that dream job at the other end of the country or the world !
 
Rent

Brain - If your suggestion were implemented yes, first-time buyers and younger people would afford their own homes and could settle down, get on with life raise the family etc. and in due time come to the end of mortgage repayments and then be able to downsize a bit, relax, have holidays, reduce to half-time work etc. UNFORTUNATELY that's not "good for the economy"........and there is a difference between what's "good for the economy" and "good for the individual".

I think it was Rainyday who recently wrote that Ireland had "stopped being a society and become an economy". Unfortunately it is only when "society" and "community" are valued that the kind of strategies which benefit the individual, the group and the community get thought and implemented.
 
Re: Stamp Duty

According to Brian Cowen (courtesy of The Star's article 'New Property Tax is Unlikely - Cowen'):

There is the €1 billion yield from stamp duties.
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:eek

... Don't you think that that is a ridiculously large amount of money generated from the sale of property alone!!

With the government earning that sort of a 'salary' from property, there is no chance in hell that they would take a 'pay-cut' by reducing or abolishing stamp duty...

... and so the battle is lost

soc
 
Re: Stamp Duty

Don't you think that that is a ridiculously large amount of money generated from the sale of property alone!!
Click to expand...

€1bn isn't that much.

When you consider that they make €4bn a year from motorists. Much of it from the fuel that's burned while cars sit on the M50 car park waiting to pay tolls.

And just like the Stamp duty doesn't benefit home owners in terms of local services etc, the €4bn doesn't do much for the Motorist either.

-Rd
 
stamp duty

why is stamp duty charged to the purchaser and not the seller
 
.

lionel - it's the same thing.

1. Buyer pays
I buy a house for 100k, I am forced to give the government 5k (for example).

2. Seller pays
Same house now costs 105k. I still spend the same amount.
 
Re: .

There is the €1 billion yield from stamp duties.
Click to expand...

if they reversed benchmarking, they could afford to abolish stamp duty completely.
 
Brain

I would accept the introduction of annual Rates (at a reasonable level) to replace the lost SD revenues.

So those of us who would have paid SD up to that point, would then have to pay annual rates as well? Double whammy?

Where's me passport!
 
Re: Brain

So those of us who would have paid SD up to that point, would then have to pay annual rates as well? Double whammy?
Click to expand...

Yes, granted past experience would suggest that the opportunity for double taxing would be availed of.

If a bit of common sense was to be applied to the situation,
a claw back or Property Tax Credit could easily be applied to people who bought with a number of years.

e.g. If you bought this year you get 5 years of no property taxes, if you bought 3 years ago you get 2 years, etc, etc.

-Rd
 
.

No.

Look at what other countries are doing with property tax, raising it willy nilly.

I'd prefer a one off payment rather than be eternally held ransom by the government. (Even worse than I am already)
 
Re: .

I'd prefer a one off payment rather than be eternally held ransom by the government. (Even worse than I am already)
Click to expand...

But stamp duty isn't a ONCE OFF payment... unless of course you plan to live the rest of your life in the same house.

Nothing stops the government here from raising stamp duty whenever they want... the way things are - they will only ever INCREASE cost of stamp duty rather than DECREASE...
 
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