Commenting on the recently published CSO Characteristics of Residential Property Purchasers 2010-2021, Brokers Ireland said the fact that the proportion of properties jointly purchased increased from 47 percent to 60.3 percent in the period and the median age for sole purchasers rose from 34 to 41 years, starkly demonstrates the social change being forced upon society by the housing crisis.
“It is time for the Government to revisit its housing plan and energise it with far greater urgency because these kinds of societal changes where home ownership is increasingly becoming the preserve of those on higher incomes or those fortunate enough to have family support, will reverberate negatively across society in the years ahead, unless addressed,” Rachel McGovern, Director of Financial Services at the organisation which represents 1,225 Broker firms, said.
She said much more needs to be done to make prices affordable, particularly for first-time buyers.
“Unfortunately debate around housing has been marked by heat rather than light. While macroprudential mortgage rules were necessary, the fact of the matter is that many aspiring buyers were squeezed out by their overly strict nature and introduced in early 2015 when house prices were much lower, and interest rates were on a downward trajectory.
“The ability to fix mortgage rates at historically low levels for long periods, in some cases up to 20 years, introduced in Ireland for the first time in recent times, has been a very positive measure, but with rates now increasing prospective buyers who have been in the market for some time are facing a moving target,” she said.
