Buying Alone Is Now Out Of Reach For Most Irish Workers

Ireland’s First-Home Divide: A Six-Figure Salary Is Now Required in Three Irish Counties.

A single first-time buyer now needs to earn more than €100,000 a year to buy a typical home in Dublin, Wicklow or Kildare, according to new research from Chill Insurance.
Last year, Dublin was the only county where a six-figure salary was needed.

The estimated salary required is €108,000 in Dublin, €101,250 in Wicklow and €100,238 in Kildare. Yet the current national median salary is only €44,816. Even in Longford, the country’s most affordable county, a single buyer would need to earn €48,375.

The figures assume that buyers have a 10% deposit and can borrow four times their annual income; the usual Central Bank limit. They are estimates and do not include personal debts, household bills or other circumstances.

There is no easy answer to this problem. State schemes can help some people with their deposit or the gap between their mortgage and the purchase price. However, Ireland also needs many more affordable homes, including smaller homes and apartments for people buying alone.

Simply allowing people to borrow more could push prices even higher. Research from the OECD’s Economic Survey suggested in 2025, that the lasting solution is to build more homes by speeding up planning, making serviced land available, lowering construction costs and building more suitable housing near/close to places of employment and public transport.

The real warning is clear: an average single worker can no longer today afford a typical first home in any Irish county. Home ownership is increasingly limited to couples, high earners or people who can get financial help from their families or the Irish State.