In Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s view, house prices are not expected to fall in the short term. In a recent interview with RTÉ he also stated that “in some areas, houses are at Celtic Tiger levels.”
He said that in some cases the large amount of savings that people have built up has fueled inflation, particularly in the second-hand market.
He noted that the largest group of people buying homes are first-time buyers, which is in part due to the Help-to-Buy scheme; and also that many parents are assisting their children in buying houses, which he said is not sustainable in the long term.
Minister O’Brien expressed that different types of housing supply is needed – and he hoped that there would be improvements across delivery and stock over the coming years.
“I would see incrementally over the next couple of years, improvements across delivery, improvements in public housing, more social housing as well. Better use of vacant stock. All of that,” he said.
“Ten years of undersupply means that Ireland is behind the European average for first-time buyers,” but he estimated that affordable homes will be delivered in 2024.
“The Affordable Housing Act and the First Home Shared Equity Scheme from the end of Quarter 2 will help people. It bridges the gap between the finance they have and the finance they need by the State taking that equity.”
“For a lot of those people who are renting [and] paying two grand a month and who are saving everything they have, and who felt that they’ve no hope in actually buying a home, that’s going to give them real options.”
Minister O’Brien concluded that the affordable housing levels under shared equity will see homes between €166,000 and €266,000 for purchase.
LSL News.