Six-figure salary required to buy first home in three counties, study finds
James Cox
Three counties in Ireland now require a single first-time buyer to earn a six-figure salary to buy a typical first home, according to a new study.
That figure is up fromm just one county a year ago, Dublin. A single buyer now needs €108,000 in Dublin, €101,250 in Wicklow and €100,238 in Kildare, according to new research from Chill Insurance.
The research also found that in every one of the 26 counties, a single buyer earning the national median salary of €44,816 would fall short of the income required to buy a typical first home.
The research describes a "country of two extremes".
At the lower end, even Longford, the most affordable county, requires a first-time buyer to earn €48,375 for a typical first home. At the top, Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare each now require a six-figure salary.
In all three, a single buyer on the local median income would need to more than double their salary to qualify for a mortgage on a typical first home in their county. In Dublin, the required salary is €108,000 against a local median income of €49,224, a shortfall of €58,776, the largest in the country.
The research compared the median first-time buyer home price in each county, using the Central Statistics Office's Residential Property Price Index, with median local incomes from CSO earnings data.
These figures were then assessed against the standard Central Bank lending rules, under which a buyer can borrow up to 90 per cent of a home's value and up to four times their gross income.
Economist Austin Hughes said: "With Irish house prices continuing to increase faster than wages, first-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to find a property they can afford, not just in Dublin or major urban centres but right across the country.
"The Chill report emphasises the nationwide nature of the problem would-be homebuyers face. Even allowing for ongoing wage growth, in no county is the typical first-time buyer property accessible at present to the median wage-earner, unless they are in a position to get additional financial support from the State and/or their family.
"With would-be buyers in Dublin and surrounding counties now needing around twice the typical wage in those areas, and approaching that in Cork and Galway, this 'purchase gap' is growing and spreading in a worrisome manner."
