Sir, - Your paper's article (August 19th) "Private housing sector poised for record boom" reported on the record growth in 1996 and the positive outlook in 1997 for the construction industry, which further reinforces the view that we are in the middle of a housing boom.
When commenting on the housing boom, words such as "spectacular growth", "extraordinary performance", "very healthy" and "buoyant" are now commonplace. Yet in the experience of many first time buyers the term "unaffordable" has now entered the housing lexicon. One wonders if the private housing sector is also poised for an affordable crises? - Yours, etc.,
Kieran Murphy,
Director, Threshold, Mary's Abbey, Dublin 7.