TALKING PROPERTY:THESE days we don't hear a peep of complaint from first-time buyers. They are now top of the heap: property prices have plummeted and they appear to be the only sector of the mortgage market managing to extract a loan from the banks.

The pyramid which was the Irish property market has been turned upside down and is now balancing precariously on the jagged remains of its once pointed head.

Historically, the property pyramid was a solid structure with a wide base consisting of low-income earners and first-time buyers, gradually narrowing to the tiny number of super-wealthy individuals positioned at the top.

Most of us had a fair idea which level of the property pyramid we were on.

Some struggled to stay where they were, others were happy with their situation and many, during the boom times, grabbed every opportunity to climb higher, aiming for the pinnacle.

In the early days of the recession, when those on the sharp pointed top of the pyramid were dramatically knocked off their perch, few cared.

Many believed the super-wealthy property investors could afford the hit and had squirrelled away much of their wealth in offshore accounts.

The media (myself included) laughed at their misfortune and expressed little sympathy regarding their demise.

The figures bandied about were so vast that they were beyond most people’s comprehension. Behind the glee at their fall, many secretly admired their nerve.

Soon, however, the ripple effect began to register. Those at the top of the property pyramid employed, either directly or indirectly, many of those on the lower layers of the structure.

As the pyramid crumbled and dole queues grew to include solicitors, architects, estate agents, builders, quantity surveyors, interior designers, manufacturers, retailers and myriad other related professions, it dawned on the nation just how much we all relied on the construction industry.

We watched the structure disintegrate and topple sideways, but were told we would all survive if we ‘took the pain’ and accepted ‘the new reality’.

Two years on, with more pain coming down the line and no sense of any sort of reality, let alone a new one, we now realise that the pyramid has, of late, completely turned on its head. Inverted, it is now top-heavy and structurally unstable.

According to the latest mortgage market report from the Irish Banking Federation and PricewaterhouseCoopers, there has been a drop in lending of almost 40 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Only 7,800 new mortgages were issued in the second quarter of 2010, with a total value of €1.31 billion.

First-time buyers account for 38 per cent of the loans drawn down during this period and represent the largest segment of the much reduced mortgage market, with an average first-time borrowing of less than €200,000.

Many of these first-time buyers work for state or semi-state organisations or have a secure job contract.

Others, however, work for formerly safe public sector companies which now admit that they’ve been struggling to stay afloat for the last few years and are on their last legs.

Last weekend, I spoke with a couple whose company will shortly have to cease trading.

They have already invested almost all of their personal savings into the business, in the vain hope of keeping their heads above water, but must now admit defeat.

In order to save themselves, they must close down their business, which they’ve been running for nearly 30 years, and let their staff go.

This upsets them greatly, as they are acutely aware of the fact that their staff have families and mortgages and are unlikely to find another job.

They were refused medium-term support from their bank – and told to raise money by selling their family home.

This, however, is easier said than done, as their home is a rambling old country house, an hour’s drive from Dublin.Their estate agent has told them the chances of finding a buyer are slim right now.

“It’s all a farce. Without working capital we’ll go down the tubes and we’ll drag at least five other families down with us. The banks don’t give a damn and the Government is oblivious.”

Perhaps it is now time for banks to adopt a more holistic approach to lending – and it is certainly time the Government took its nose out of the Anglo trough and started to examine the bigger picture.

There is little point in banks lending to first-time buyers if, at the same time, they are pulling the rug out from under everyone else.

A stable structure is required, now more than ever before – and it may be worth remembering that the Pyramids are still standing.

Isabel Morton is a property consultant