Reuters UK: Soft landing for Ireland?

Dario Perkins, an economist at ABN Amro argues that Ireland and Spain, where house prices have also exploded, will not see their domestic property markets crash even if the ECB raises interest rates further than expected.

In a note after his Dublin trip he said the European Central Bank was expected to raise euro zone rates to perhaps 3.75 percent by mid-2007 from 3.25 now, but that even 4 percent was bearable for Irish and Spanish mortgage holders.

"I think this bearishness is overdone," he wrote. "It would be astounding if these economies saw anything more than a minor short-term wobble."

Bust unlikely to follow global housing boom