THIS WEEK NEW figures were released by the Central Statistics Office telling us all what we basically already knew – house prices across Ireland shot up by more than 15% during 2014.
There was also news on the Central Bank’s new mortgages rules, with something of a relaxation being introduced for first-time buyers.
First-time buyer relief
Big news came this week for first-time buyers worrying about the Central Bank’s new restrictions on mortgage lending.
It was announced - after some speculation - that people entering the market for the first time would be able to borrow up to 90% of a property’s cost up to a value of €220,000.
Speaking about this change, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, said he hoped it would “provide certainty to borrowers and ensure that banks continue to engage in prudent lending practices.”
Still on the up
Figures this week released by the CSO found that house prices rose by 16.3% during 2014. Quite a daunting statistic considering that during 2013 prices only went up by 6.4%.
A clear difference was notable between Dublin, where prices shot up drastically, and the rest of the country, where there were smaller increases.
House prices in Dublin are now 22.3% more expensive than they were this time last year.
Jurys Inn
This week US investors bought the Jurys Inn hotel chain for €980 million.
The group has five hotels in Ireland. Globally it employs around 2,000 people and operates 7,000 rooms.
The group was bought out by US-based Loan Star Funds.
Speaking about the move this week, John Brennan, CEO of Jurys Inn, said that Lone Star were “very committed to the future growth and development” of the business.
With the Super bowl set to take place on Sunday night, Business Insider took a look at some of the best places available on Airbnb for those travelling to attend the game.
Most of the time when you see unusual architecture, it is being built in some far-off land.
Well this time there is a pretty impressive building being constructed a little bit closer to home.
The new V&A Museum being built in Dundee, Scotland would not look out of place alongside any of the world’s great structures.
It has been in the news this week after its architect Kengo Kuma was surprised to find that the cost of the building had almost doubled from €45 million to €80 million.
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