Madam, – Am I the only person annoyed at the whining of Alison O’Riordan (Property Residential supplement, October 14th)? Ms O’Riordan complains about the negative equity that she now finds herself in and laments the fact that she struggles to pay her mortgage.
Perhaps I misunderstand how these matters work, but surely the mortgage would remain the same regardless of the current value of the property? Therefore, even had it doubled in value she would still struggle to meet her monthly repayments. I struggle to have sympathy for someone whose major complaint seems to be that she can’t offload a property onto the next poor sucker.
It was speculative buying that helped inflate the property bubble to the ridiculous level of several years ago and far from the worst thing to happen to my generation; the market collapse has given renewed hope to thousands that we may be able to afford family homes in the future. So what’s next? Will your financial pages carry a lament from someone who bought Anglo Irish Bank shares two years ago and now finds that they’re worth nothing?
I prefer to save my sympathy for the many families around the country who are really struggling to pay mortgages coping with job loss and severely reduced income. – Yours, etc,