The new Central Bank mortgage rules coming into effect in the New Year should prove a welcome relief for first time buyers.
Whereas presently they require a 10% deposit on the first €220,000 of a purchase, they needed a 20% deposit for the remainder of the cost of their new home.
However, a 10% deposit all round coupled with the government’s new help-to-buy scheme will make things a lot easier in January.
Well, in theory at least.
It’s one thing to be able to afford a home but quite another thing to find a suitable one. Figures from MyHome.ie show that the number of available stock is down 9% on this time last year and this is continuing to drive prices up, particularly in Dublin.
With fewer people selling more new homes are needed but while figures released today from the Department of Housing show that 11,797 homes and apartments were built Ireland in the first 10 months of this year, including just over 3,400 in the capital, this is still well off the estimated 35,000 that are needed yearly to satisfy current and future demands.
While the recent Central Bank amendments combined with the government incentives for first-time buyers should stimulate the market, more needs to done to get back to what is deemed a normal functioning market.
More needs to be done to help non first-time buyers who may be stuck with a home that no longer meets their needs and perhaps are still stuck in negative equity or as accidential landlords.
There has been no relief whatsoever for these people and even those who have climbed out of negative equity will struggle to meet the 20% deposit requirement after selling their existing properties.
The lack of trading up means that the homes which first-time buyers have traditionally targeted in the past are no longer coming on board and with few new builds in urban areas at a price range that most first-time buyers can afford the search for a property is as difficult as ever.
With this in mind we’d like to hear your view on what should be done to really get things moving in the market.
- Should there be a 10% deposit requirement all round?
- Will the recently introduced incentives encourage more new building?
- Has the Central Bank amendments benefitted you?
Have your say below…
