{"id":571826,"date":"2026-07-28T09:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T09:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/571826\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T09:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T09:15:08","slug":"first-time-buyers-with-two-incomes-still-priced-out-of-market-scsi-study-finds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/571826\/","title":{"rendered":"First-time buyers with two incomes still priced out of market, SCSI study finds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A first-time buyer<\/a> couple with two incomes availing of the Government Help to Buy<\/a> scheme still faces a considerable affordability gap when trying to buy a home<\/a> in Dublin or surrounding counties, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI<\/a>) has said.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s midyear report on the residential market here includes an affordability analysis for a couple \u2013 a garda and a nurse, each with 10 years\u2019 employment \u2013 on a combined income of \u20ac113,000 looking to buy different types of starter homes, including a three-bedroom semidetached house, in commuter counties around Dublin, and Cork.<\/p>\n

It found that buying couples with a 10 per cent deposit (and with the Central Bank\u2019s mortgage rules) would face a shortfall of almost \u20ac25,000 in Kildare, \u20ac20,500 in Wicklow and \u20ac11,500 in Meath.<\/p>\n

Cork was the only county of the four where the couple\u2019s finances would cover the cost of a three-bed semi.<\/p>\n

The prices used for the analysis were based on median purchase prices of three-bed semis in new housing developments in the four counties.<\/p>\n

Although the comparison did not include Dublin, median purchase prices are even higher there.<\/p>\n

Emer Byrne, vice-president of the SCSI, said the figures showed that affordability continued to be one of the defining challenges in the State\u2019s residential market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile a new three-bedroom semidetached home is affordable in Cork, new three-bedroom semidetached homes in Kildare, Wicklow and Meath remain out of reach for people on these salaries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pattern agents are seeing is a persistent divergence between income growth and property values, as the marginal gains in purchasing power are offset by property price growth wherever the demand is strongest.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0In Ireland\u2019s dysfunctional property market, the starter home has become the forever homeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Byrne said that, in addition, \u201cthere are thousands of people on lower salaries who will not be able to buy and will require support\u201d.<\/p>\n

The SCSI\u2019s report also noted that while tenancy registration numbers were at record levels nationally, estate agents were reporting \u201csustained landlord sales activity\u201d as smaller landlords exit the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result is a gradual restructuring of the private rented sector. As smaller landlords exit, ownership is concentrating among large-scale and institutional providers,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n

Landlords complain that the Government\u2019s new rent rules have made managing a small number of properties too financially onerous.<\/p>\n

The SCSI\u2019s report contained a survey of estate agents and their outlook for the property market.<\/p>\n

The majority said they expected property prices in the State to increase by an average of 5 per cent over the next 12 months, a slight increase on the 4 per cent forecast six months ago.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Rents in Ireland surged by highest level on record after new control system startedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

An overwhelming 92 per cent of 150 agents surveyed said they believed current residential property prices were either \u201cexpensive or very expensive\u201d \u2013 up 8 per cent since a similar survey in January \u2013 while just 6 per cent believed they were currently fair value, down from 12 per cent a year ago.<\/p>\n

When asked where they believed we were in the market cycle, two out of three respondents (64 per cent) said they believed \u201cprices are increasing but will level off soon\u201d \u2013 while 18 per cent believed \u201cthey have peaked and should start to decline\u201d. <\/p>\n

Most agents reported stable or easier lending conditions. \u201cThat steady flow of credit is one of the main forces keeping purchasers\u2019 activity firm,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A first-time buyer couple with two incomes availing of the Government Help to Buy scheme still faces a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,30559,3662,61,60,4310,98956],"class_list":["post-571826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-first-time-buyer","tag-housing-crisis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-property","tag-society-of-chartered-surveyors-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}