First-time buyers have less savings and are having to borrow more to purchase a home, while rents are continuing to rise - that is according to three new reports released today.
Data from Daftmortgages.ie, suggests that a typical mortgage seeker now has €11,000 less to put towards a deposit than their counterparts did a year ago.
While, the latest figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland show that the average mortgage drawdown by first-time buyers in the second quarter of this year, was up 13% at €263,312.
That's the highest level since they began compiling this data in 2003.
Rents too have risen sharply according to the Residential Tenancies Board, rents for new tenancies rose by over 9% across the country.
This puts the average national rent at €1,460. Rents for new tenancies in Dublin were €2,015 per month, while outside of Dublin the average rent was €1,127 per month.
Leitrim had the lowest rent for new tenancies at €734 per month but was experiencing a 22% increase in prices, year-on-year.
Fourteen counties had average rents in new tenancies that were above €1,000 per month.
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'In the last couple of months, it's just gotten ridiculous'
Rob Twamley and Ruth Gahan are a couple in their 30s who have been trying to buy a home in Dublin for two years without success.
"In the last couple of months, it's just gotten ridiculous," says Rob.
"We've been saving for so long and renting for so long and now we're in a position where we thought we'd be able to buy, but the prices have just gone out of our reach again.
"We were looking at a place in Balbriggan, the price was €269,000. We bid on it...got into a bidding war...it went up and up and up. Eventually we were outbid and it sold for €370,000 - that's €100,000 more than the asking price....and it needed a lot of work.
"We've lowered our expectations a lot," says Ruth, "but even then, things are out of reach."
She is also concerned about rental costs.
"Rent is going up and up and up. Only recently there, we had an increase so it's getting harder every month to do the level of saving we were doing," she says.
"The plan was, buy a house, get married, have kids - and that's still the plan, but the buying the house part is putting a hold on everything," says Rob.
The couple work in Dublin city but are now considering buying in Meath or Drogheda and commuting to work.
