The Average age of a first-time Buyer in Ireland is now 34.

That’s four years older than the average age in the late 2000s, according to a new report from The Central Bank.

The ‘Household Credit Market Report 2018’ also found that second time buyers are now aged 41 on average, which is three years older than the average was two years ago.

Central Bank report ‘Household Credit Market Report 2018’ said that the age profile of first-time buyers reflects the population getting older while a major factor is people being forced to rent longer due to the difficulty of raising funds to pay a deposit.

First-time buyers must have a down payment of at least 10% according to Central Bank rules, while other borrowers must have at least 20%.

People here are also taking out longer-term mortgages than in other European countries, according to the report.

A new buyer typically takes out a 29-year mortgage in this country. Those who are trading up have an average term of 24 years. In contrast, a typical mortgage in France is paid back over 18 years. Germans buy their homes over an average period of 25 years.

The upshot is there has been an increase in this country in the number of first-time buyers who will still be paying off their mortgages when they are between the ages of 65 and 70 since 2003.

But there has been a fall in the numbers who will still be in mortgage debt in their 70s.

Almost half of first-time buyers had loan terms of between 30 to 34 years. Half of second-time buyers had a loan term of under 25 years.

Typical first-time buyers have a deposit that represents 30pc of the value of the property. They were borrowing an average of €274,000 in Dublin, for a property that is priced at €367,000, in the first half of this year. This is compared with €185,987 for new buyers outside Dublin.

The average Dublin income for a new buyer was €85,334, and €66,728 for buyers outside Dublin. First-time buyers are generally borrowing 3.1 times their income.

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