AN AVERAGE HOME in Dublin for a first-time buyer cost €375,000 last year, over three times as much as the average price of a house in Longford, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). 

The ESRI, an Irish economic research organisation, examined housing affordability for first-time buyers from a county perspective in 2018. The report found that Laois had the biggest growth in house prices for first-time buyers between 2017 and 2018.

The average price for a first-time buyer (FTB) house in Laois rose by 17.5% during this period. It rose by 15% during the same period in Sligo and Clare. 

Offaly was the only county in which house prices reduced for first-time buyers between 2017 and 2018, going down by 1%.  

In Dublin last year, it cost €375,000 for a FTB home on average while in Longford, a home in this category cost €116,000, according to the ESRI.  

The report published today concluded that subsidy schemes such as Help to Buy and Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan “must be complemented by the expansion of the housing stock and the provision of alternative rental models”.   

First-time buyer couples in Dublin, Wicklow, Meath and Kildare who earn an average income payed more than 30% of their wages on mortgage installments in 2018.

In western and northern counties, households pay less than 20% of their income on mortgages on average.  

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown in Dublin had the highest average house price in the first-time buyer category at €520,000, 57% higher than Fingal in the north of the county.

Rural v urban 

The report outlines that people do not always earn more money in urban areas. For example, a first-time buyer couple in Cork county has an annual income almost €10,000 higher than a couple in Cork city. 

However, the annual income of a first-time buyer couple in Galway county is €43,112 while the figure stands at €58,665 in Galway city.