Monitor shows nearly half of homes bought last year were paid for with cash

Almost half of all homes bought in 2018 were bought with cash, according to the latest quarterly Consumer Market Monitor.

The monitor shows that 55,000 homes were bought in Ireland last year, an increase of 8% on 2017.

More than 30,000 mortgages were issued in 2018, that is up 12% on the previous year.

Meanwhile, 50,000 fewer homes were bought last year than at the height of the boom in 2005.