Huge pent-up demand for homes, says bank

Huge demand for housing is probably even greater than many people imagine because homeowners are stuck in houses that are unsuitable for their families, a survey has suggested.

KBC Bank Ireland said it was likely that pent-up demand means that sales transactions should be up to 80,000 houses, instead of the current level of 48,000.

“To properly understand what’s happening in the Irish property market today, we need to look at what is happening to demand as well as clearly inadequate supply,” said chief economist Austin Hughes at KBC.