Roscommon is one of the five most affordable counties in Ireland for first-time buyers, according to new research from Chill Insurance. A single buyer still needs to earn €63,000 to buy a typical first home. That is more than the county’s median income of €42,150, leaving a gap of €20,850 between what people earn and what they need.
Roscommon is the fifth most affordable county in the country for first-time buyers, behind only Longford, Leitrim, Mayo and Donegal. Yet the local median income still falls short of what a single buyer would need to borrow for a typical first home.
The research compared the median first-time buyer home price in each county, using the CSO’s Residential Property Price Index, with median local incomes from CSO earnings data. These figures were then assessed 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 Roscommon the first-time buyer home is €280,000, with median income in Roscommon being €42,150, and the salary needed to qualify for a mortgage at €63,000, and the gap being €20,850.
Some of the key national finds include that no county is affordable for a single buyer on the national median salary of €44,816, and three counties now need a six-figure salary, Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. The five least affordable counties are all in Leinster as five counties need salaries above €90,000, with Connacht and Ulster making up most of the affordable list.
