| Work underway on House Price Register Work on establishing a new house price register which will be based on achieved sales prices rather than asking prices is now underway, the Government has confirmed. Minister for Housing and Local Services, Michael Finneran, T.D., said the new register will replace the current quarterly index published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Speaking today at a Construction Industry Federation briefing on the Government*s long term leasing initiative, the Minister said that work is “progressing well” on the new register. He said he hopes to put in place a register along the lines of those already operating in Scotland and England. He said two important elements are being examined; the first is an address specific register of house prices, and, sitting on top of that, an aggregate index to allow for an in depth analysis of national, regional and small area trends. “The housing market is going through a painful but necessary correction at the moment, but the pace and duration of the correction is not uniform across the country. The same will be true of market recovery when it comes,” he said. “Consumers, policy makers, providers all depend on accurate market data that provides a more real time and realistic picture of the state of the housing market at any given point in its evolution,” he added. The Minister said Department officials have been in consultation with stakeholders and interested groups to identify any existing blockages that might need to be overcome in the establishment of the new register. He added that timing of delivery of the new register is dependent on a number of factors, including the degree to which the existing regulatory framework supports its establishment. However, he added that it is hoped that proposals can be brought to the Government setting out the options available “in the near future”. |
