Opinions on the Irish Property Market

Contrary to the heady days, post 2002 to 2006, the slump in the Irish property market is something that is less talked about online these days. Its a bit like somebody who's sprained their ankle. It becomes annoying when they complain about it all the time. As an Irishman I'm proud of what the Irish economy has achieved over the past 20 years. It has brought prosperity and wealth to an island that has been dealt a series of bad hands over the years. What remains to be seen though is how much of this will be retained as the housing market slumps, the US economy contracts and commodities prices continue to rises.
House prices were previously being pushed down largely because they were exceeding prices the market was willing to pay. The sudden introduction of new factors such as increasing mortgage prices, rising eurozone inflation and unemployment will put further pressure on prices and will increase the probability of a crash occurring. Even if prices do come down considerably demand will be impacted as the pool of people who normally look to buy will have been eroded due to unemployment and will have less purchasing power due to higher mortgage costs...