There are days when the boom seems back, says ISABEL MORTON

THERE ARE times, (few, admittedly), when you might be forgiven for thinking the recession was over and the property market was booming.

Last Saturday was one of them. Despite the wind and heavy showers, Patricia from Lisney greeted 46 parties at the door of a three-bedroomed cottage in Blackrock, Co Dublin, with an asking price of €250,000.

Not the best day for interviewing viewers: some just dashed past, trying to take shelter, while others kindly braved the elements to stop and chat.

One young couple in their late 20s, both working, related how they were approved for a mortgage about a month ago and hope to avail of the Government tax scheme for first-time buyers and find a home somewhere close to where they grew up in Killiney and Stillorgan.

Unlike most first-time buyers, they appeared keen on the idea of buying a house in need of renovation and decoration, had put aside a sum of cash for that purpose and have family in the construction business who are prepared to help.

This young couple was certainly not the norm, as most I spoke with expressed grave concern about renovation costs.

One young man complained, frustrated, as many of the properties within his price range require complete renovation.

“They (the banks) don’t want you to buy a place that needs much work because they’re not going to give you money to fix it up, so the cash buyers end up getting all the bargains, the ones we aren’t allowed to buy. It’s crazy.”

Indeed, the result of having good quality renovation work done was reflected in the asking price of another house for sale on the same road.

It was not open for viewing that day but it has apparently been upgraded and extended and is for sale with Savills at an asking price of €395,000. One woman viewing on behalf of her adult son explained that the renovated house was unfortunately above his budget.

She wasn’t the only mother involved in the property hunt: another mother and her daughter, who had been looking for only a few weeks, were serious cash buyers, in search of a well-located three-bed investment property.

However, having initially looked at properties €30,000 over their budget, thinking that vendors would accept an offer considerably lower than the asking price, they quickly realised this was not the case and had to review their expectations.

Another cash buyer described the surge in activity in certain sectors of the property market as a “mini-bubble”, which she believed could burst at any time due to uncertainty surrounding the euro. Her money is safe in a Canadian bank and she has been renting for the last three years, having sold in 2009, but may now consider buying if the price is right.

My next port of call was to the northside of the city, to (coincidently) another Lisney property, this time a nicely presented two-storey end-of-terrace Victorian house with a large garden in Dublin 7 with an asking price of €330,000.

Chatting with a couple viewing with their two young children, they suggested it was now time to buy, as today’s asking price equated almost exactly with the selling price achieved back in 2000 for a similar property a few doors up the road.

Another couple, more concerned about the size of the garden than the house, had a substantial deposit saved and a mortgage broker working on their behalf. “It’s actually cheaper now to buy than to rent and, anyway, we’re sick of paying someone else’s mortgage,” one said.

Young parents, viewing with their baby daughter, told how they fear delaying tactics on the part of the banks, such as those experienced by their friends, which meant properties were long sold by the time the banks gave final approval.

Banks were also an issue for a teacher who sold her first house and had a large deposit to put down on another but, despite 11 years working, three in her current post she has not been made permanent and therefore was immediately refused a mortgage by the bank despite her father offering to act as guarantor.

Apparently she becomes incensed every time she sees the bank’s new television advertising campaign, which advises the public how much it wants to lend to them.

Apart from shifting their own stock of new developments, banks are lending to first-time buyers only reluctantly, because they are under Government orders to do so.

If you need cheering-up, however, then join the throngs of first-time buyers viewing property. If nothing else, for an hour or so, you’ll be fooled into believing all is well.

Isabel Morton is a property consultant

Talking Property