THE COST OF Living crisis is having a “significant effect” on the domestic property market, with 64% of renters saying rising costs has affected or delayed their ability to purchase a property.

55% of prospective homebuyers also point to rising costs as a stumbling block to finding a property.

That’s according to a new survey from property website MyHome.ie, which was conducted in late February and involved 2,509 respondents.

It found that energy concerns dominate property market sentiment giving the rising cost of basic utilities like electricity and gas.

Meanwhile, 63% of homebuyers and 70% of renters have had to look beyond their top location choice because of price concerns.

61% of those survey said rising costs has resulted in them planning to use renewable energy, with 75% of prospective buyers are now more likely to consider a property’s Building EANERGY Rating (BER) when making a purchase.

Searches by energy rating on MyHome.ie have risen by over 35% in the first two months of the year when compared with the last two months of 2022.

The cost of living crisis is still having a significant effect on property market sentiment, with 55% of prospective homebuyers and 64% of renters saying rising costs have affected their ability to find a property. Meanwhile, 63% of homebuyers and 70% of renters have had to look beyond their top location choice because of price concerns.

‘Poor sentiment’

56% of respondents noted that they are “worried” that interest rate hikes will affect their ability to buy, while a similar number (54%) welcome the Central Bank’s new mortgage lending rules of four times’ income for first-time buyers. 

The new lending rules came into place this year and the previous limit of three-and-a-half times gross income had been in place since 2015.

Consumer sentiment has also taken a sizeable hit. Last August, 24% of prospective homebuyers said they believed the next year would represent a good time to buy property.

In the latest February survey, 13% of respondents said the same.

But despite this poor sentiment, demand still appears to be a strong feature of the property market.

Close to two-thirds (63%) of respondents have finances in place to buy a property in the next year, and over half (56%) are confident about their ability to buy in that timeframe.

Joanne Geary, Managing Director of MyHome.ie, noted that sentiment in the property market tends to mirror that of the overall economy.

“So it is perhaps not too surprising to see cost of living-related energy concerns dominate in this survey,” said Geary

“There is still significant pent-up demand among prospective homebuyers but they are looking for different ways to ease the financial burden”, she added.

Geary also pointed to a focus on renewable energy as a “fantastic long-term trend for both the market and the environment as a whole”.

The MyHome.ie Managing Director also noted that supply is a “critical problem”.

“Even though over half of our respondents have finance and are ready to buy, just 13% believe the next year will be a good time to buy property.

“Added to that, a large majority (86%) believe the Government should be doing more to help. The various schemes that have been introduced have eased the pressure, but in reality we need to see a significant increase in home-building to satisfy demand.”