Average price of new home: €195,000

Average price of second-hand home: €160,000

Down 20%

Projected change to Jan 2010: up 5%

Market view: The last 12 months has been one of reassessment, realignment and reality in Longford, an area where vendors’ asking prices, long overambitious, were brought into line during 2008. As a result, prices fell by a fifth.

Anyone with unrealistic values will have withdrawn their house from the market. Those in need of a quick sale were forced to take lower than the following figures suggest.

A number of agreed sales broke down, particularly in the latter part of the year, because buyers who had previously secured mortgage approval were subsequently turned down.

Some mortgage lenders are seeking deposits of 20% before they will even entertain a buyer.

Meanwhile, many lenders have withdrawn their services entirely from the investment community.

However, despite all this, investors still accounted for a quarter of all purchases last year.

There are no new houses being built in Co Longford at present and many vendors have withdrawn their properties and schemes completely in the hope of being able to secure more for them when the market recovers.

One bright spot was small farm holdings which held their value well thanks to steady demand. However, larger holdings have suffered as potential purchasers struggled with borrowing requirements.

The rental market has also changed since January last year, when rents were rising and vacancy levels fell. Indeed, over the past 12 months the higher end of the market has continued to see high levels of demand, but tenants are unwilling to pay premium levels and prices have dropped by 2.5%.

At the lower end of the market, vacancy levels are rising as foreign workers leave the country in search of employment.

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