First-time home buyers priced out of market

First-time home buyers in Cork city are required to earn 60% more than the median county income to be able to secure a mortgage to buy a typical first home.

First-time buyers in Cork city need annual earnings of €75,375 to afford a median house price of €335,000. The median income for Cork city and county is €46,416, leaving a shortfall of €28,959 between what people earn and what they need.

Under borrowing rules set by the Central Bank of Ireland, borrowing is capped at 90% of a property’s value and four times a buyer’s gross income.

The figures were released as part of a national survey by Chill Insurance. Median home prices for first time buyers were taken from the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) Residential Property Price Index for the 12 months to June 2026. Median incomes were taken from the CSO’s Distribution of Earnings by Gender and County 2024.

Figures differ between the city and county, with those outside of the city required to earn almost double the median county income. First-time buyers in the county will need earnings of €92,092 compared to the media county income to secure a mortgage on a median first-time home costing €409,299. This leaves a shortfall of €45,676. Cork topped the list of counties outside of Dublin and its surrounding commuter counties and is the only county outside of Dublin, Wicklow, and Kildare to require earnings of over €90,000 to be able to secure a first-time mortgage.

The next highest in Munster, Limerick, required earnings of €78,750, compared to a median county salary of €44,498, leaving a gap of €34,252, over €10,000 less than Cork.

The cheapest county in Munster is Tipperary, where the gap is €25,727.

Galway predictably topped the list of counties in Connacht – with an income shortfall of €41,505 – while Monaghan led in Ulster, with a shortfall of €26,483.

The cheapest counties in the country, Longford and Leitrim, still require earnings of €9,518 and €13,963 more than the median respectively to secure a first-time loan.

Freelance economist Austin Hughes, formerly of KBC Bank, the Department of Finance, and Central Bank, said that the data emphasised the nationwide nature of the problem that would be homebuyers face.

“With Irish house prices continuing to increase faster than wages, first-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to find a property they can afford, not just in Dublin or major urban centres but right across the country.

“Even allowing for ongoing wage growth, in no county is the typical first-time buyer property accessible at present to the median wage-earner, unless they are in a position to get additional financial support from the State and/or their family.

“With would-be buyers in Dublin and surrounding counties now needing around twice the typical wage in those areas, and approaching that in Cork and Galway, this ‘purchase gap’ is growing and spreading in a worrisome manner,” he said.