Single first-time buyers in Co Carlow need €71,550 income for mortgage

SINGLE first-time buyers in Carlow hoping to purchase a home need an annual income of €71,550 to qualify for a mortgage, according to new research.

The median income in the county is €40,363 and a typical home costs €318,000. This leaves a gap of €31,187 between what people earn and what they need to purchase a home.

However, Carlow is among the most affordable counties in the country for first-time buyers, according to analysis of Central Statistics Office data by Chill Insurance. It assessed figures from the residential property price index and median local incomes against the standard Central Bank lending rules, under which a buyer can borrow up to 90% of a home's value and up to four times their gross income.

In neighbouring Kilkenny, the gap widens as first time buyers need to earn €78,419 to afford a mortgage; in Kildare, they need to earn €100,238. A home in Wicklow also requires a six-figure salary.

The largest gap between incomes and house prices is in Dublin, where first-time buyers need to earn €108,000 to afford a typical home costing €480,000. With median salaries in the capital at €49,224 per year, this leaves a gap of nearly €60,000.

Two in every five buyers bought a house by themselves in 2024, according to a CSO breakdown of the characteristics of residential property purchasers in 2024.

No county is affordable for a single buyer on the national median salary of €44,816 “unless they are in a position to get additional financial support from the state and/or their family,” noted economist Austin Hughes.

In Longford, the shortfall income stands at €9,518 and it is €13,963 in Leitrim.

“Carlow has the lowest income requirement in the south-east of the country for first-time buyers. Even so, a single buyer earning the local median income would still not earn enough to borrow what they need for a typical first home,” said Ian O'Reilly, director of sales and operations at Chill Insurance.