Share prices of building companies are falling as demand for housing soars, exposing the frailty of our dysfunctional property market

Last weekend, Cairn Homes, Ireland’s biggest housebuilder, published a 47-page presentation on its website with quite a lot of details on the challenges and opportunities in the Irish housing market.

It’s a glossy publication, with plenty of photos of real-life Irish families getting their dream home. There’s also a helpful commentary on the growth of mortgage lending provided by AIB, and one on the cost of construction in Ireland by an external consulting ...