Clare in top ten most affordable places for first time buyers in Ireland
Clare is one of the affordable most place for joint first time buyers, but ranks lower for solo buyers
A new study reveals Clare as one of the most affordable places for first time buyers in Ireland.
Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon, Sligo and Mayo are the top 5 most affordable places for joint buyers and take the least amount of time to save for a deposit, according to a study by Switcher.ie.
Clare was the eighth most affordable most place for joint first time buyers.
Both buyers earning the average wage in Clare can expect to spend just 3.1 years to save the minimum 10% deposit, a year and a half below the national average time in Ireland which is 4.6 years.
Unsurprisingly, areas in and around Dublin were the most out of reach for joint buyers, with Dún Laoghaire earning the title as least affordable place for both joint and sole buyers.
It would take an eye-watering 27.9 years to save for a deposit for a home in Dún Laoghaire, and 13.5 years for a home in Wicklow.
Wicklow, Dublin, Kildare and South Dublin are the next least affordable for joint buyers, taking the most amount of time to save for a deposit.
For single first time buyers Clare ranked 12th on the list. With the average apartment price €171,400, and median income €40,654: it would take 6.7 years for single person to save a deposit for an apartment.
Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, Wicklow, Galway, Kildare were most out of reach for sole buyers, with an apartment in Dun Laoghaire averaging €523,288, meaning it could take a resident on the average salary for that area, up to 88.5 years to save for a deposit.
The research showed that the most affordable places for first time buyers were not necessarily in the areas with the lowest house prices.
Although cheaper property prices help, having a comparably higher income makes your mortgage more affordable and deposits take less time to save.