Local Estate Agency Announces Takeover

There may be jobs in jeopardy when one of Northern Ireland's best known, locally-owned estate agencies is sold amid more news of a fall in the value of property here.

As the nationwide housing slump takes hold, and it is shown that house sales in Northern Ireland could be set to fall by as much as 30%, the north Antrim firm of McAfee Properties and Mortgages is being sold to the management by owner Gerry McAfee.

Last year McAfee employed more than 100 staff and was the Province's biggest estate agency but about 40 staff were made redundant in October.

In a statement the company said that the takeover would "reinforce the company's position within the market place", but employees are concerned that their jobs may be under threat.

Staff are worried about their jobs particularly because property sales has fallen significantly.

However, the existing owners have said that the company was "not in financial trouble" and that decisions about staffing levels would be an issue for the new owners.

In a statement Mr McAfee said: "The decision to retire at this stage has been no surprise to my senior management team as I have said for some time that I proposed standing back from the frontline when I got to 50."

The statement said Mr McAfee would be retained by the company on a consultancy basis.

"While it is early yet to confirm exactly who will be responsible for the various divisions within the company, it is I believe fair to say that most departments will remain in the control of its present management.

"The takeover will no doubt create and bring about new opportunities but also some change, as the new teams assess their individual requirements, and unfortunately, in the slower property market this may lead to some redundancies."

Meanwhile, a leading housing expert has said that house sales figures collected for the next University of Ulster House Price Survey are "substantially lower" than last year.

The claim follows a prediction from the UK's biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, that housing transactions could fall by up to 30% this year nationally.

Professor Stanley McGreal, one of the authors of the UU House Price Index, agreed the Province could follow suit.

"Yes, sales are certainly down in Northern Ireland, we are seeing the same picture," he said.

The latest findings from the UU survey, for the last quarter of 2007, showed local house sales had fallen by a third on the same period a year before.

And this downward trend could be set to continue for the rest of the year as both housing and industry experts in the province are reporting a 'slow' spring market - a period which is traditionally buoyant and the starting point for busy summer months.

Prof McGreal said: "We noticed at the mid-point of last year a drop in the number of house sales, but this did not surprise me at all."

(BMcC/JM)