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Ireland · report

Affordability in Ireland

At the average sale price, a home costs €456,004. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is €1,831 a month. Ireland sets no cap on the payment; the Central Bank limits most mortgages to four times gross income for first-time buyers and 3.5 times for others.

Payment, two incomes
21%
Payment, one income
42%

Try your own numbers

Starting from the average sale price of €456,004 in Ireland, the median net income of a household, €51,810 a year (2022, Ireland), and a mortgage rate of 3.5% (August 2026).

Assumptions
The CSO's median is a whole household's income, couples included: one income is the median household, so two incomes is generous.
3.5

The payment takes 21% of net income. Ireland sets no limit on it.

Home price
€456,004
Monthly payment
€1,843
Share of net income
21%

Ireland against the EU

Share of people spending over 40% of their disposable income on housing, then the rest of Eurostat's survey of living conditions. These are national figures, shown here as context.

  • Ireland
  • EU
Show the numbers
YearIrelandEU
20255.3%7.7%
20244.5%8.2%
20234.7%8.8%
20223.7%8.7%
20212.6%8.7%
20204.2%7.8%
20195.2%9.4%
20183.4%9.6%
20174.5%10.1%
20164.6%10.9%
20154.7%11.2%
20146.4%11.5%
20134.6%11.6%
20126.5%11.5%
20116.1%10.6%
20104.9%10.0%
Share of people whoIrelandEU
Spend over 40% of income on housing6.3%7.7%
… nationals (adults)4.4%7.1%
… citizens of another EU country (adults)17.1%15.2%
… non-EU citizens (adults)38.0%18.1%
Live in an overcrowded home12.7%16.8%
Own their home outright39.7%43.7%
Own with a mortgage31.5%24.8%
Rent at market price16.3%20.8%
Rent at a reduced price or free12.5%10.7%

Income is the CSO's median net household income: the whole household's income after tax and social insurance, from tax and welfare records. It is published for 2022 only, so today's price is set against that year. Ireland sets no limit on the payment as a share of income: the Central Bank limits most mortgages to four times gross income for first-time buyers and 3.5 times for others, and to 90% of the home's value. The CSO's prices are plain averages of the homes bought, so they move with the mix of homes.

Other reports for Ireland

Sale prices have an 80% chance of landing between €452,409 and €541,904 by August 2027.

Expected, August 2027
€497,157
Chance of a rise
88%

17.2% more homes were granted planning permission in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.

Permitted, 12 months
39,354
Per 1,000 residents
7.1

Sale prices have fallen by 3% or more once since 2005. That fall began in April 2007.

Deepest fall
−55.1%
Recovery from the low
112 months

In 2025 the population grew by 78,300 while 36,215 homes were finished: 2.2 new residents for every new home.

New residents per new home, 2025
2.2
Population change, 2025
+78,300

10.9% of the 2,112,121 homes counted in the 2022 census were unoccupied: vacant, or holiday homes.

Empty, 2022 census
10.9%
Empty homes
230,389

In 2025, 63% of the planning permissions granted for homes were for extensions, alterations or conversions of existing ones.

Work on existing homes, 2025
63%

Public bodies signed €1.2B of housing works here in 2025, and €6.5B since 2017.

Signed in 2025
€1.2B
Per resident, 2025
€217