Houses and land of one of the country’s several ghost estates are to go under the hammer at an sale for distressed property next month.

The remainder of an unfinished housing estate at Woodlands Park, Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, is to be auctioned off by property-agents Allsop Space in Dublin.

Three vacant houses and four acres of land on the part finished, half occupied estate are being sold as one lot with a reserve price of €40,000 (£33,000). The site has planning permission for 31 townhouses.

There are earlier 38 finished houses sold in the original part of the development.

Former housing minister Willie Penrose, who has advocated the fire sale of ghost estates, welcomed the move last night, saying: ‘I hope that like an acorn seed, this idea will grow and bring trust to thousands of families trapped on unfinished housing estates.’

The three properties, which at their peak were selling for €220,000 (£181,000), are four-bedroom townhouses. Two are semi-detached and one is detached. Though externally complete, they need kitchen, utility and bathroom fittings.

Receivers Kavanagh Fennell has set the reserve price. Auction director Robert Hoban said the lot was being treated as a test case.

He said: ‘Obviously, we’re wary that even with a reserve price of €40,000, there’s still a lot of work to be done on this lot… It may suit a developer or interested buyer who might have plans more down the line to finish off the estate.’

It is one of 106 lots for auction at the Shelbourne Hotel on May 3. Also for sale, with a reserve of €515,000 (£425,000), is the 43-bedroom Darby O’Gills Hotel, about 4km outside Killarney. Weirs Pub on Lower George’s Street, Dún Laoghaire, has a reserve of €450,000 (£372,000). The Bank pub,  O’Connell Street, Limerick, has a reserve of €395,000 (£326,000); the Coolgreaney Inn near Gorey, Co. Wexford is on offer for €220,000 (£181,000); and Shortt’s Bar and Crystal Nightclub in Waterford has reserve price of €495,000 (£409,000).

The prices exemplify the horrendous state of the Irish property market.

Only last week, MailOnline ran a story about a five bedroom property in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, which was bought for €3.3million (£2.7m) for the period of a fierce bidding battle at the height of the property boom.

But currently, following a disastrous period for the country’s economy, the property is on the market for just €395,000 (£325,500).

The 4,080 sq ft house had been purchased in 2006 by developer’s aim on building a 60-bed nursing home.

That was little shock in light of a survey earlier this year which consider the performance of the world’s mainstream housing markets placed Ireland firmly at the bottom.

While at the end of last month, new data from the Central Statistics Office exposed that residential property prices fell by almost 18 per cent in the year to February.

The property crash has lead in more than 1,600 ghost estates across Ireland.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny is at present implementing huge budget cuts to get the country back on track after it was forced to accept a £70bn bailout from the EU – signalling once and for all the end of the Celtic Tiger boom years.

For the majority of Serbian citizens, buying an apartment is an elusive goal. With an average salary of 400 euros, customers are barely lying awake at night deciding which loan to choose. It is rather more often the case of which lender will even consider their application.

“They are not expensive housing loans due to high interest rates; [it is] because of the obscene price per square meter,” Association of Serbian Banks general secretary Veroljub Dugalic told SETimes.

Per square meter, the average cost of an apartment in Belgrade is 2,000 euros. For an apartment offering 70 square meters, a 20-year loan installments without interest — is over 500 euros per month.

“We need an apartment, but my wife and I do not dare take [a loan] because the euro is more expensive in Serbia,” Darko Lakitic of Belgrade told SETimes. He is a young doctor, with a monthly salary of 550 euros.

Interest rates on housing loans in the euro range are between 4% – 8% annually, while the banks argue that there are no conditions to lower them. Loans in local currency are available through the Societe Generale Bank, but the interest rate is 17.63%.

Serbia lacks 20,000 to 30,000 new apartments per year, but builds less than 10,000. Minister for Planning, Environment and Mining Oliver Dulic has described the situation as disastrous for the construction and building materials industry. He blames this lack of residential construction on the National Bank of Serbia, which has tightened lending, forcing buyers to put 20% down of the total amount of loan in cash, rather than 10% as before.

“The sale of apartments has been reduced by nearly 30%,” Dulic told SETimes.

Since the middle of last year, the number of commercial mortgage loans approved has plunged by 15.3%. Before this credit crunch, about 1,000 apartments were selling per year in small towns. In contrast, across all of Serbia last year, there were only about 2,000 contracts.

To help the construction industry, the government adopted a decree on relief for the purchase of subsidised housing, offering a lower interest rate to everyone, including couples over the age of 45. Before, only 20-year mortgages were available. Now, 30-year terms are available.

“While property prices in the world fell more than 50% because of the crisis, in Serbia, despite falling sales, vendors do not want to give up their profits,” economic analyst Radojka Nikolic told SETimes.

Comparisons show that in Zagreb and Ljubljana, the average salary requires a potential homeowner to work ten years to buy an apartment of 60 square meters. In Serbia, that same person would take 20 years.

Apartment sales are off in Croatia as well, but for a different reason, a glut of available homes. There are nearly 50,000 dwellings built, for which there are no customers. Croatia enjoyed a construction boom in recent years, but the economic crisis took a toll on customers’ savings. So in the last three years, prices have skidded more than 15%, and it is estimated that they will fall further over the next five years. In Zagreb, the price per square meter has dropped from 2,050 euros to 1,750.

EU membership in 2013 may attract some buyers, but not enough. “It will be interested foreigners, but they certainly will not buy all the apartments that are now empty and losing value,” Vjekoslav Dolac, a construction company owner from Dubrovnik, told SETimes.

In Montenegro, apartment sales are virtually flat. Prices are lower by up to 30%, compared to the “golden” year of 2007, when a wave of Russian buyers swooped in. Five years later, there are no more foreign buyers, and for locals, the prices are too high.

The government initiated a campaign “1.000 plus” to address the housing problems of young people, but interest has been low. The number of new apartments sold is down by more than 60%. Buyers simply don’t have the money, even for an average price of 1,200 euros per square meter.

“We’re selling an apartment of 68 square meters for 70,000 euros, but haven’t had a customer in nine months,” Podgorica resident Smiljana Dedic told SETimes. Her family bought their home four years ago for 83,000 euros, but is forced to sell it now because Dedic lost her job.

Aldar Properties said on Monday its board will meet this week to talk about asset sales as the Abu Dhabi-developer, bailed out once by the government in 2011, struggles with a property downturn.

Aldar, part owned by the government, said the board will meet Wednesday to consider the sale by the company of certain of its assets as well as other operational matters.

The developer has already sold assets to the Abu Dhabi government, including its Ferrari World theme park and the Yas Marina Formula One circuit.
Abu Dhabi bailed Aldar out in January with a $5.2 billion rescue package in exchange for 2.8 billion dirham ($762 million) in convertible bonds to Mubadala and the sale of properties. Mubadala converted a portion of its bonds earlier this month.

In January, Aldar said it would sell assets worth $1.49 billion to the government to meet debt obligations.

It did not name any specific assets allow for sale but analysts have said these could include properties such as the ‘Yas Hotel’ and some commercial and retail developments under construction.

Aldar shares were down 1.18 % on the Abu Dhabi exchange.

Because of the rupee continues to fight a losing battle against the greenbuck, realty-sector is bucking up on a new trend.

Indians living overseas are now looking back home for some moneymaking gains as the currency market throws up good investment options. 28-year old Kabir Batra is living the great Indian dream in America, a secure job at Siemens, sufficient savings and now it is time for making future investing. And during his holiday trip to Delhi he spotted the right chance in Dwarka.

“I wanted to make a good investment in reality sector but last year I didn’t have enough funds, and this time it is a blessing in disguise as because of depreciating rupee, I am getting deals which are 20 per cent cheaper from last year,” said Kabeer Batra, a NRI.

And as the rupee continues to fight a losing battle against the greenbuck, realty sector is bucking up on a new trend.

“The main demand is coming from Dubai and interestingly new markets like South Africa are also witnessing a new change. Of course traditional markets like US and UK continue to generate demand front the NRI community,” said Anuj Puri, chairman of JLL.

Given that the rupee dollar price equality has resulted in at least 20-25 per cent discount on the project, developers are willing to extend further discount of 10-15 per cent to boost their sales. Many are participating in abroad road shows and have their bets on rupee-weakening further.

“We are looking at Dubai road show to get more sales from the NRI community which is abruptly in action owing to weakening rupee,” said Bandish Ajmera, chairman property exhibition at MCHI.

And while investors like Kabir continue to look for future investments here there is no-denying that for these developers weakening rupee is actually a gaining-strength.

TWO RESIDENTIAL sites going for auction today in the north Dublin suburbs of Clontarf and Killester clearly show how much land values have fallen since the property market took a fall.

A site of 1.77 acres, at 199 Howth Road in Clontarf, with planning permission for 59 apartments, is for auction at €2 million, while another plot of just under three-quarters of an acre, at 169 Killester Avenue in Killester, with planning approving for nine houses, can be bought for as little as €450,000.

Wesley Rothwell of CB Richard Ellis, who is managing both sales, says that while development sites about the country have fell by over 90 per cent in many cases, those in the Dublin suburbs are almost certainly down by 75 to 80 per cent.

As a matter of fact the guide price for the Howth Road site. It is immediately adjacent to the intersection with the St Lawrence Road – suggests the fall in values in this location has probably been even greater. The €2 million being sought equates to a valuation of only €33,900 per unit. A long way short of the €250,000-plus per unit frequently paid at the max out of the market.

Rothwell says that with a swing away from apartments because of the excess supply overhanging the market he believes the site will appeal either to developers who would look for alternative permission for 10 to 12 good-sized houses, an owner-occupier looking for an exceeding site for a new home or companies planning to build a nursing home.

The second site, on Killester Avenue, is placed a short distance north east of its junction with Collins Avenue East. The planning permission allows new owners to demolish a derelict house and two sheds on site and replace them with 24 apartments. A modified permission subsequently given by An Bord Pleanála allows for the development of seven three-bedroom houses and two two-bed homes.

In the meantime, CBRE is presently in discussions with a number of parties interested in another site of almost two acres a short distance away, in Sutton. Offers in the region of €1.55 million are being sought for the 1.98 acre plot alongside Sutton Cross which was originally bought in 2003 for €11 million. It has planning permission for 60 apartments, most of them two-bedroom units.