None of us can confidently value property now, writes ISABEL MORTON

I’ll lay bets that the primary reason you are reading this property supplement today is to keep up to date with current property values. What you find will either elate you, if you are lucky enough to be in a position to buy, or depress you, if you’re being forced to sell.

Most property owners are nervously watching the market. Even those who are mortgage free and who never borrowed on the back of the boom-time value of their property, are concerned at the rate at which their nest egg has diminished.

Subconsciously, whether they like to admit to it or not, many made plans and had expectations of a certain lifestyle, based on the value of their property.

They relaxed in the “sure” knowledge that their property was a good financial investment. It may not have been something homeowners consciously thought about very often, but when they did, it made them feel safe and secure.

But that feeling of security is now being undermined on a daily basis, as values plummet.

And before you write in to tell me how we were all so greedy and how we should have known that the property boom was nothing more than a bubble waiting to burst, etc, let me remind you that the country was not made up entirely of big-time property moguls: most were just average, everyday people, who were trying to do their best for themselves and their families.

Of course, as we now know, what was once “as safe as houses” has turned out to be as unstable as a house of cards.

The subject of property values these days is a tricky one, to put it mildly. The truth is that none of us can value property now with any degree of confidence. Estate agents will admit (off the record and after a few drinks) that some properties are actually impossible to value because there just isn’t a market for them at the moment. Regardless of the asking price, they will not sell.

The adage that “everything has a price”, does not necessarily apply to property, as lending institutions are just not lending people money to buy property they consider to be in any way suspect. In other words, if you’re planning on buying pretty much anything other than a well-located three-bed semi, then your chances of getting a mortgage are slim to none.

Few have sufficient cash to buy a property outright, without some sort of loan, however small. Most require loan approval in order to facilitate their purchase and if their bank doesn’t approve of the proposed purchase, then they will not be lent any money to buy it.

If people are not lent money to buy certain properties, then these properties can’t sell. And if they can’t sell, then they have no value.

Last week, I spoke with a man who, like many others, is under severe financial pressure and is now being forced to sell his family home.

The trouble is, that the property in question is a large one with a handful of acres, within a 40-minute drive of the capital. As it’s neither a farmhouse nor a town house, but somewhere in between, it falls into the aforementioned “suspect” category.

Bought within the last decade, it has been sensitively restored and beautifully decorated and although not located in the trophy home belt, it has, nevertheless, all the trappings.

In boom times, its owner refused millions offered for a few acres of his land, which, due to its relative proximity to one of the main arteries into Dublin, had development potential. He declined to sell in the belief that a new housing development in the immediate vicinity would seriously compromise the integrity of his gracious period property and the peaceful, semi-rural aspect of its surroundings.

Needless to say, his land, which was once of such interest to property developers, is now just a field and his beautiful home is just another white elephant on the market.

Recent valuations of his property varied from €1.8 million to €5 million. In other words, they hadn’t a clue what it might sell for, if at all. Only one estate agent was honest enough to admit that they would have little chance of finding a buyer, regardless of the asking price.

This house, like a number of other large period homes scattered around the countryside, was neglected for decades before being brought back to life during the Tiger years.

These homes may well fall into disrepair yet again, as our lending institutions are loath to finance their purchase and refuse to fund renovation works.

They will join the ghost housing estates, empty holiday villages, remote rural retreats and unfinished apartment blocks, as unsaleable properties, which have no value.

So, as you sit reading this property supplement at your breakfast table, you might guess that your home is now worth 50 per cent of its boom-time value, but think again.

If you are living in anything other than a well located three-bed semi-detached urban house near good transport links, your property may be considered suspect and be of no value whatsoever. How’s that for a cheery thought to start the day?

* Isabel Morton is a property consultant