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Ireland is Europe’s worst property market

In reports issued on Wednesday, Ireland stands out as one of the worst performing countries in Europe in regards to the property market.

Figures available show that the country's registered new homes under the Homebond guarantee scheme dropped to just 1128 in the month of February. This is a 65% cent drop over February of 2007. Homebond and Premier are the largest companies which offer registration figures like these. Homebond's figures are seen by economists and property investors as a good indication of the future activity in the property market.

According to reports, the country's property prices fell by 7% in the year 2007. This was the slowest decline. Property experts say that these values can drop as much as 5% for this year alone.

As reported by Bloomberg News, Michael Ball who is Professor of Urban and Property Economics at Reading University in the UK, said, "The scale of any property market downturn is likely to be far less than the last downturn in the early 1990's."

The results of these declines are being seen outside the property market as well. For example, this week Readymix Plc, who is an Irish company that manufacturers concrete, says that their profits have dropped by 42% in 2007. They attribute this to the drop in the local property market as well as the drop in the construction of new homes in Ireland.

Demand has similarly fallen in other sectors.

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