OVER FOUR IN 10 prospective homebuyers have said they have postponed buying a property due to the cost of living crisis. 

Property website MyHome.ie has published a survey today which revealed that just 5% of people believe the Government is currently doing enough to help the market. 

Over a third (36%) of prospective homebuyers believe that a change in Government would be a good thing for the property market. 

Just 21% of people did not agree that a change in Government would be a good thing for the market, with 43% neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

A total of 78% of respondents said they were worried about the state of the property market in general, while just 13% believe the next year would be a good time to buy.

Limited supply is an ongoing issue, with 78% of people saying that they had to look beyond their top location choice due to supply concerns, and just 19% saying there is enough supply on the market to secure a suitable property.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the MyHome.ie report during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil this afternoon. 

McDonald noted the report’s findings that almost half (44%) said that the cost of living crisis has meant they have had to postpone a purchase.

Addressing Taoiseach Simon Harris, she said: “Your Government’s failure to deliver the affordable homes needed to rent and buy is at the heart of the problem.”

The Sinn Féin leader said it has “nevery been harder for people to buy their own home” and blamed Government policy. 

Harris said that he knows homeownership “can still feel out of the reach of many”, addign that the Government is “working day and night to change that”. 

Hitting back at Harris, McDonald went on to say she has never seen “housing needs so desperate”. 

“It seems that we have a Government that is utterly delusional, either that or just deeply dishonest, because you are not delivering, at pace and at scale, the affordable homes that young people in particular, and families more generally, need to purchase,” she said. 

Harris said the Government is “going to deliver record supply this year”, adding that 12,000 homes have commenced this year. 

The MyHome.ie survey also found that almost half (45%) of respondents, however, said they would not wait for an interest rate cut before proceeding with a purchase, and nearly two-thirds (63%) saying they had finances in place to buy a home.

Over half (57%) are looking to secure a mortgage term of over five years and nearly three-quarters (73%) will look to secure a fixed-term mortgage.

Respondents still believe there is scope for more price hikes, with 53% saying they believed the price of homes would increase in the next year.

A total of 2,223 people were surveyed in April and May of this year for the MyHome.ie survey.