House building firm McInerney today reported that since mid 2008, it has written down the value of its Irish landbank to an average of €26,000 per plot (-52%) and its UK landbank to an average of £27,000 per plot (-41%). It confirmed that the total value of its Irish property has more than halved since mid-2008. Including the writedowns, the reported pre-tax loss in H1 2009, was almost €171m.

As a result of the the difficult market conditions,  McInerney reported a loss before tax and exceptional items of €12.8m for the first six months of 2009 which compares to a loss before tax and exceptional items of €22.1m for the corresponding period in 2008. The firm said the loss from operations for the first six months is primarily attributable to lower volume housing output and lower product prices in Ireland and the UK. It says this has been influenced in the main by lack of mortgage access for potential house buyers, lenders requiring an increased level of equity deposit to complete house purchases and generally poor consumer sentiment resulting from wider economic conditions.

Total unit completions in the UK and Ireland, were 342 for the first half compared to 423 in the first half of last year.

The chairman Ned O'Sullivan commented: "The autumn selling season this year will be particularly significant in providing an indication of the condition of our key housing markets. While the actions of the Irish and UK Governments to increase liquidity and stabilise the banking system are designed to free up mortgage availability, we await the impact feeding into the market. Financial institutions are requiring an increased level of
equity deposit from potential home buyers which is also curtailing demand.

The timing and rate of recovery in the housing market will be dependent on a wider improvement in the economic conditions in Ireland and the UK together with a tangible increase in the supply of mortgages. In the UK there are signs of some market recovery albeit from a low base."

Results detail

SEE: Finfacts reports covering issues such as land and house prices:

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