Making Cents: Want to buy a house? Don't lose hope

The Help to Buy (HTB) incentive helps first-time buyers purchase a house or apartment or get a self-build mortgage for a one-off home - it only applies to newly-built properties costing €500,000 or less

The maximum market value of the home to be purchased with a Rebuilding Ireland home loan is €320,000 in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow and €250,000 in other counties. FTBs can borrow up to 90% of the market value of the property.

It has not been a reassuring week to be a potential house buyer in Ireland. The reports of investment funds swooping in to purchase swathes of new builds and outbid individuals would make the most optimistic househunter lose hope.

Given the news, it is unsurprising first-time buyers (FTBs) despair of getting on the property market. I asked Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie what he was seeing in terms of market activity.