Market is ready for quick NAMA sell-off: Minister Noonan

Mr. Michael Noonan, Minister for Finance has told reporters in Brussels that he had instructed senior NAMA officials to look at the various options of selling off its property quickly, but that no decision has been made yet.

Mr. Noonan stated that  he believed that the market “would be able to carry a big sale at this point”. “But when I come around to making decisions, I want the decisions to be evidence-based,” the minister said.

He said he has asked NAMA “to explore what would be the implications of bringing forward the sale as the market would be able to carry a big sale”.

‘The Sunday Business Post’ reported at the weekend that NAMA was looking at a rapid disposal of its remaining €22bn loan book. Separately, Mr Noonan also said the Government was concerned at the lack of housing supply in Dublin. NAMA is putting around €2bn of loans on the market this week as the sell-off of its Irish portfolio continues. The agency is expected this week to put up a ‘for sale’ sign on loans linked to Cork-based developer Michael O’Flynn. The loans have a face value of €1.8bn.

The balance of this week’s sale is €200m of loans linked to Dublin developer Brian O’Farrell, one of the so-called ‘Maple 10’ group of investors who bought shares in Anglo Irish Bank from Sean Quinn in 2008.