Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Many studies have been carried out by different financial institutions. However, first-time buyers are key buyers in the market. As I said, 45% of mortgages for new homes taken out last year were by first-time buyers, which shows they are buying. Different people can play around with figures. The survey by Halifax mentioned by the Deputy was very selective in its prices. It used the average price of all houses, which includes big second-hand houses that might have development land adjacent. It used particular salary levels — in the case of a nurse it used the salary in her first or second year. It is possible to play around with figures to get the maximum effect. However, first-time buyers represent a very large proportion of the market. Some 45% of new houses are bought by first-time buyers. The average house that a first-time buyer buys costs 13% less than the average new house bought by others, mainly people trading up. Relating what the first-time buyer pays for a house to the average price of a second-hand house is irrelevant, because we all know that second-hand houses include many fancy houses in the leafier parts of the city and elsewhere.

On affordability, house prices have increased in recent years.

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