Taken at face value, the survey of first-time-buyers - published by the biggest mortgage lender, Permanent TSB - indicates that concerns about them borrowing beyond their means may be overdone.
It finds that by and large most people approaching 30 are in a position to accumulate enough money for a deposit and to borrow the remainder over a reasonable term. In addition the majority find the burden of repayments tolerable. A significant number of first-time-buyers may get help from parents or other relatives, but this has always been a factor in the market, albeit at lower levels.
When all this is set against further signs yesterday that growth in house prices is moderating, there must be a temptation for those in authority to pat themselves on the back over their stewardship of the market which seems set for a soft landing.
Yesterday's survey however was silent on the wider aspects of the first-time-buyer market. It did not, for example, indicate the extent to which people have been priced out of areas in which they want to live and the pressure that this is putting on infrastructure in the counties surrounding Dublin where many have moved. Equally, the social and other implications of young parents enduring long commutes and having to work long hours to meet mortgage repayments, while paying huge bills for childcare, is not dealt with. Nor are the consequences for relatives of dipping into their nest eggs to help family members on to the property ladder.
The survey also ignores the significant non-mortgage borrowings taken out by first-time-buyers, often to cover legal fees, stamp duty, furnishing and in some cases the deposit itself. These borrowings are substantial and their existence goes some way towards explaining the inconsistency between the relatively benign picture painted by yesterday's survey and the more worrying trend identified by the Central Bank of average consumer borrowings running at 120 per cent of income.
The reality remains that a very significant number of people - many of them first-time-buyers - are very heavily borrowed, even if their mortgage falls within the margins of what might be termed manageable by the parameters of this survey. The sustainability of these levels of debt remains untested and will do so until interest rates start to rise, which on balance may not be until next year. When these factors are taken into account, there is less room for congratulations or complacency on the part of those involved in the housing market, either as regulators, lenders or intermediaries. Borrowers too must exercise common sense and caution.