OREANDA-NEWS. The Central Bank has pre-released two signed articles from the forthcoming Quarterly Bulletin 3 of 2016.

Estimating Cash Buyers and Transaction Volumes in the Residential Property Sector in Ireland, 2000-2014

While the amount of new housing completion has dropped, there has been a marked increase in the prevalence of cash buyers as a proportion of the total:

  • At the height of the boom there were 150,000 transactions, 25% of whom were cash buyers.  As transactions have fallen, the share of cash purchases rose to 60% over recent years.
  • The increase in the share of cash buyers reflects a number of factors, including the fall in the number of mortgages drawn down and low levels of residential construction.
The New Paradigm: Analysis of Eurosystem Monetary Operations

In 2015 and the first half of 2016 the actions of central banks have been one of the drivers of financial markets.  This article examines the European experience during this period, in particular the asset purchase programme.  The key findings in this paper are:

  • Central bank monetary policy decisions have remained a key supportive driver of financial markets during this period.
  • Policy decisions of the world’s major central banks will continue to impact markets throughout 2016, along with other factors including developments following from the outcome of the Brexit referendum.