Finding a dream home has long since turned into a nightmare for first-time buyers, as escalating property prices drive them ever further from the neighbourhoods in which they grew up.
In Dublin, where the problem is most pronounced, many can no longer afford to buy even in the outer suburbs of Lucan, Tallaght and Blanchardstown and have been forced to travel as far as Drogheda in Co Louth, Kildare, Mullingar in Co Westmeath, and Carlow to find affordable homes.
But even in what are fast becoming dormitory towns for Dublin commuters, prices are rising.
New three-bedroom semi-detached homes in Kildare are fetching £120,000 (€152,478). Two or three years ago, they would have sold for £85,000, says Ms Dee Ahearn, marketing and new home sales director with Gunne estate agents.
"First-time buyers aren't being afforded the opportunity to live in Dublin and any sites that become available in the city will be out of their reach," she says.
The same applies in the second-hand home market. One-bedroom apartments in Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8 are going for £95,000 to £170,000, depending on size and location, says Ms Roly Burke, manager of Sherry FitzGerald's Merrion Row branch.
Small two-up, two-down homes in areas such as Ringsend can range from £140,000 in poor condition up to £170,000 if they have been refurbished, she says.
And prices in north Dublin, traditionally lower than those on the south side of the city, are fast catching up.
"It's becoming tougher and tougher," acknowledges Ms Barbara Patton, head of marketing at Irish Permanent. "We don't expect prices to fall. The pace of growth has slowed but there is still growth in the market. If there is no international shock, we expect there will continue to be growth for the next two to three years."
Economic prosperity and demographic factors, such as an increase in the number of people in the 25-35 first-time buyer age bracket, have pushed demand for housing. Returned emigrants and foreigners, attracted by Ireland's booming economy, have added to it. Demand has been further fuelled by historically low interest rates.
At the same time, a lack of sufficient zoned and serviced land for house development has meant that supply has not kept pace, even though the number of new houses built has doubled over the last five years.
As a result, the sites available for residential development command premium prices, even though the actual construction cost of a typical three-bedroom semidetached home is only about £50,000.
In a recent comment on the housing market, Mr Martin Walsh, head of lending at the EBS, said: "New starter homes continue to cost far too much. Super profits, built into these prices, are going to those who control the supply of building land."
Mr Walsh added: "When the housing market is convinced that current house price problems are due to short-term bottlenecks in the supply of building land and that the solution is at hand, only then will buyers realise that they should be very careful about paying current inflated prices for houses." Several government initiatives, implementing many of the recommendations in the Bacon Report on house price increases, are already under way to ease the problem.
About £39 million has been set aside to provide water and sewer services for 100,000 housing units by the end of 2000. That's in addition to a 1999 allocation of £275 million for general water and sewer services. New guidelines for residential densities have been published allowing up to 20 dwellings per acre, compared to the traditional six to eight dwellings per acre.
Funding has also been earmarked for extra planning department staff.
In addition, the 1999 Planning and Development Bill includes measures to speed up the planning process. More controversially, it also requires developers to set aside 20 per cent of land for social and affordable housing.
"The Government accepts that the only long-term solution is to increase the supply of housing," a spokesperson for the Department of the Environment and Local Government said.
It is estimated that 50,000 new houses will be needed each year for the next eight to 10 years to satisfy demand. Last year, 42,349 houses (both private and local authority) were completed and first quarter figures suggest that number will be exceeded this year.
Once supply has increased, house prices should fall to levels more in keeping with salaries, experts say. But that is still likely to be several years away. For young people trying to reach the first rung of the property ladder today, the options are limited.
One possibility is to turn to parents for financial assistance. About 15 per cent of Sherry FitzGerald's first-time buyer clients have chosen this route, says director Ms Vivienne Brophy. A parent can act as guarantor for the loan or may remortgage their own home to provide the additional finance, she says.
Another option gaining popularity is for a group of friends or non-relatives to pool their resources and buy together. But this can be fraught with problems and legal advice is essential.
Getting on the Government's housing list may be a possibility for some. The Government plans to increase the local authority rental housing stock over the next four years. In addition, it has announced an affordable housing scheme in which local authorities can build houses and sell them at cost price to eligible buyers.
Others may just have to sit tight and rent in the hope that prices will fall in the next few years, as some industry sources believe.
"In the long term, the current relationship of house prices to incomes cannot be sustained and must at some stage, return to more rational levels. The only arithmetical alternative is that incomes rise to levels which will destroy Irish competitiveness and jobs," notes Mr Walsh of EBS.
"The panic level is starting to ease a little," says Mr Richard Eberle, managing director of REA Mortgage Services.
"People are seeing the Government start to take action to make more land available and to speed up the planning process. In the next few years, there will be more choice in housing. But they will be smaller houses."
