I’ll do my bit then to get the thread back on track. “My sentiment towards the Irish property market”, by WTTW:
Summer into Autumn 2006 – sentiment does a bit of a wobble. Constant stream of contradictory data from the US. ECB raises rates to 3.5%, while Fed remains paused. Irish bears jump the gun calling a ‘peak’ and ‘imminent crash’. Random, unconfirmed cases of price drops haunt Irish market. Much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands on RTE/Irish Times/Sundays etc.
Winter 2007 – ECB joins the Fed in pausing rates at 4% citing slowdown in France and Germany and 1.35 exchange to the US$. Bullish sentiment roars back. Bears “proved wrong again”. Mad scramble to get on the ladder and prices ratchet up like never before. Headlines in papers once again proclaim X% a week price rises. This is it, the very last chance for those wanting to get on the property train.
Spring 2007 - Sentiment goes ultra bullish even though FTBs are effectively priced out. Headlines in papers explain FTBs no longer a necessary factor in the property market. “Owners” leverage themselves further to pay each other ever higher sums for property. The number of bearish commentators dwindles to all-time low, even David McWilliams capitulates and says, “an new era of property feudalism has dawned on Western countries”. Sober articles are written how we’re heading for a society divided into permanent camps of owners and renters; those who work for a living and those who own for a living. Stories emerge of ‘rags to riches’ landlords with 100’s of properties, ordinary people pictured smiling in Sunday papers above articles outlining their assets valued at multiples of the national lottery prizes.
However, Irish inflation now at 6% and rising. European inflation averaging 3-4%. ECB slips in one small rate rise amid the “pause” period.
Summer 2007 - Existing landlords start to leverage to the extreme, brokers offer products whereby equity can be withdrawn and held in special accounts to meet monthly debt commitments. Other incredibly clever tax and amortatization schemes limit month payments. “Guaranteed” maximum debt re-payment schemes for property "owners" are advertised. Landlords liabilities to the banks are reported as shrinking as a percentage of their asset-base. Landlords with millions owing on mortgages leverage themselves further and further to snap up property. It is a virtuous cycle, and articles and analysis appear vindicating the sustainability of it. The absence of FTBs means that “someone must own property”, therefore the concentration in a few hands makes sense. More and more exotic products are offered to manage the monthly debt repayment obligations of “owners”.
But, bad news about falling prices in the USA start to become undeniable and UK Halifax index goes y-o-y negative.
With European inflation now persistently tracking higher at 4-5%, ECB decides its pause period is over, starts ratching rates higher. ECB hints at 0.5% increments in their tightening, but conceeds to political pressure to raise it’s price stability bar to 3%. All of this means nothing of course to FTBs without parental/lottery assistance. The subtext of the expanded property supplements is that they are doomed to a life of renting.
Autumn 2007 – Silently, unannounced and unknown, ECB rates hit the point where even the most exotic monthly payment schemes “rollover”, i.e. the debt chairs cannot be shuffled any more, payments simply have to rise. Political crises in Europe as the Fed suggests cutting rates. But ECB defies Brussels and pushes through the Fed rate of 5.75%, “indicating 6 or 7% may be required”. Gold hits US$850/oz.
…….
To be continued…