Whether you're looking to rent or buy property in Ireland these days, there is simply no easy answer.

A report in today's Irish Examiner reveals that the average first-time homebuyer in Ireland has to cough up deposits of roughly €50,000 to get themselves a place. The report, based on the housing affordability index by EBS and DKM economic consultants, also points out that the average cost of a mortgage for a first-time buyer comes in at roughly four times the deposit at €196,530. Consultant Ciara Morley told the Examiner:

“We are seeing an upward trend in the proportion of disposable income required to fund a mortgage for first-time buyers over the last two years and we expect that proportion required to continue to rise.”

Mortgage repayments are also putting a considerable financial burden on new homeowners, with couple's expected to pay 29.2% of their monthly takehome earnings to finance the repayments. This news follows other reports of significant increases to the cost of housing outside of Dublin.