AroundtheBlock: Property investors looking for the next big thing were given a few pointers by Bank of Ireland's private banking division earlier in the week.
Guests at a brunchtime briefing were told to look beyond the shores of Ireland and the UK if they want better yields and lower borrowing rates. The bank is touting Belgium and France as the most attractive places for commercial investments, with Scandinavia also seen as a possible marketplace for the wealthy Irish. The UK is no longer the hot spot that it was, according to Peter Collings, director of BoI Private Banking, who said that pricing there has become more challenging - in other words, it's just too dear, even before the currency difference is taken into consideration. "We would be very selective about any deals in the UK at present," he said. Instead, the bank is recommending: Brussels, where office vacancy rates are low thanks to the EU; Paris, as the second largest European office market; and French regional cities, which are currently providing a premium on initial yields compared to UK regional cities. Nordic cities, too, are on their list as hot investment spots. In the last year the bank has completed deals totalling nearly €200 million in Belgium and France, and it hopes to double this amount in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, residential investors have been buying into France for several years, but maybe they should now be looking to Brussels, too, where house prices have yet to soar as they have done in cities like London or Paris.
Silly season in the mortgage market
What a week it has been in the mortgage market. One day we had the Central Bank telling us we borrow too much and too fast, and the next First Active came out all guns blazing with its 100 per cent mortgage offer aimed at first-timers. The lender, which was already offering 100 per cent of the property value to high earning professionals, is promising to go all the way for all sorts of first-timers. So what will the central bankers think of that? Is this irresponsible lending? Well, the answer depends on house prices and where they're going. If you think they are at a peak or - heaven forbid - set to fall, then the worry is that the new product will leave swathes of first-timers with mortgages worth more than the value of their property - negative equity. Not such a nice thought, particularly for the conservative central bankers.
Designers for Paris fair
The Crafts Council of Ireland has been invited to show at a major international furniture fair in Paris in 2007 and is calling on innovative designers to come with it. The council has three chosen architectural firms to design its exhibition space under the themes of ecology, mythology and technology, and it wants furniture designers to furnish the spaces.
U2 Tower architects, Burdon Craig Dunne Henry Architects, are taking care of technology and is seeking innovative solutions for apartment living, including window screens for those bombarded by too much glass. Eco-architects Solearth will encourage furniture designers to work with sustainable and native materials.
Architect Dominic Stevens is on the mythology trail, in which designers will be encouraged to reinterpret traditional designs in a contemporary way. The Crafts Council is keen to "challenge existing notions about Ireland" which, reading between the lines, means people think we're a bit backward in our designs.
For more information contact Cornelia McCarthy at cornelia@ccoi.ie, or phone 056-776 1804.
