Evening Echo

Friday, 11 January 2013 Page: 14 Circulation: 18632 Area of Clip: 12000mm Clip ID: 14911 Page 1 of 1

Construction Industry Federation on calls Fitch's examine to property briefings

THE Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has called on the Fitch's rating agency to look at how they compile their residential property briefings for Ireland in future. The federation said that compiling a macro view of the Irish property market no longer holds water with Ireland now a series of localised markets. "It's not accurate to present a macro picture for Ireland's property market at present," said CIF Director General Tom Parlon. "What we're dealing with is a series of mini marketplaces. That's why last year prices in places like Dublin, Cork and Galway as well as other urban areas were stabilising at a rate that was completely at odds with what was happening in more rural residential markets. "The legacy from the Celtic Tiger days is that too much residential property was built in certain parts of the country. "As you can see from the Government's vacant housing report produced late last year, this was particularly pronounced in counties likes Cavan, Longford, Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim. "The vacancy levels in the National Housing Survey for these areas varied from 17 - 35 per 1,000 households. "With that level of fluctuation between supply along with the increased level of demand that is manifesting in urban areas, how does it make sense to produce an overall report for the residential market in Ireland? "It is a flawed and irresponsible approach. It is damaging to some of the localised markets in Ireland at a critical time. "What's going to happen to the Dublin market this year will bear little relation to the market in places like Leitrim. "We agree with the scepticism voiced by Minister Noonan on the report. He claimed that it was a 'pretty ambiguous kind of assessment' and we believe that is fair comment. "This country has learnt a lot since the Celtic Tiger years and one point is that the devil is in the detail," he added.