Irish government warned recession will deepen on back of property woes

Leading economist Bacon urges action to sort housing market

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Leading economist has warned that Ireland’s economic woes will worsen if the government fails to stabilize the property market.

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Expert Peter Bacon has warned that Ireland’s economic woes will worsen if the government fails to stabilize the property market.

Widely regarded as one of the most informed economists in the country, Bacon believes Ireland’s current recession could get even worse.

He told the Sunday Independent newspaper: “Ireland faces a recession more protracted and more severe than the one we are already in if the Government fails to intervene in, and bring stability to, the property market.”

The former government adviser added:  “The market went to dizzying heights and now it’s going to dizzying lows. Property prices are now being driven down by speculative forces in much the same way they had been driven upwards in the boom years.
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“Just as the property market overshot and went on a random walk on the way up, it is doing the same thing now on the way down. Now people will say it will reach a natural level, but there isn’t a natural level.

“What you had were speculative forces driving the market up, and what you have now, in effect, are speculative forces driving the downward path that we are on at the present. It’s within that nexus that an intervention is necessary if the Government desires to bring about stability in the market.”

The economist also said that those who bought at the height of the Celtic Tiger boom face economic ruin with negative equity presenting a huge threat to any hope of Irish recovery.

Bacon added: “Those households who entered the market from the middle 2000s who have seen their wealth eroded or, worse still, are in negative equity, how does all that get worked through?

“Their wealth is eroded and their prospects are completely eroded. They face financial ruin if their balance sheets were to be realised. That’s why a stable property market is crucial to bringing about a recovery in the economy.

“How the hell can you expect households to say, ‘Look, we’re going to spend more,' if the principal assets they are sitting on are being knocked down in value?”

He also believes that any solution involving debt forgiveness would have "to be agreed" by the Government with the EU/ IMF/ ECB troika.

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