Joan Henry, director of research at Savills, says the ''best'' properties in the best locations lead the recovery with potential buyers looking for houses in good suburbs. She says the prime properties have to stop falling in value first before the rest of the market stages a recovery.
Ms Henry says those who are actually buying are people who only have to find 20-50% of the mortgage - these would include people who sold at the height of the housing boom or who are returning to Ireland from abroad. She says it is quite surprising at the amount of people who have the cash to buy houses.
Savills have found that there is not enough supply in the market to meet the demand for prime properties. Ms Henry says that when demand is there without enough supply, prices generally rise. But because of the lack of finance from mortgage lenders, this is not happening in Ireland yet. Savills says the normal market supply and demand dynamics remain distorted in the current property market here.
