Eschatologist wrote:
@Madness the CSO-derived figures I quoted were for one FT and one PT in Dublin. I would assume that most couples are both FT when they apply, the CBI rules give enough breathing space for one to drop down to PT and still afford the mortgage. Or even one be unemployed.
I find it a bit weird on these threads the constant reference to national average wages, but I guess it's probably because the CSO are really bad at producing regional income numbers. Both prices and incomes obviously differ massively between Dublin and ex-Dublin.
Oddly enough, when applying for jobs, I've found no difference in salary offers nationwide, while Dublin (and to a lesser extent Cork) property is significantly more expensive. That said, for me, jobs are concentrated largely in Cork,outer Dublin and nearby large towns in east Leinster, with smaller clusters around Limerick/Shannon and Galway. Beyond that, there's often just one or two single employer towns per county each with a couple of possible jobs, if that. Perhaps they have to offer more to entice people to take on the risk of moving to somewhere with no alternative prospects.
Nevertheless, I agree that somebody needs to build housing for people who can't afford current prices, either by the state paying, or building so much on the open market that the price falls to levels they can afford. Given land and building costs, the latter approach probably requires so much subsidy that it becomes indistinguishable from the first.