Buying a home - Mortgaged to the hilt

OUR endless obsession with property, the tremendous cost of homes in Ireland and the dependence of the vast majority of aspirant home owners on lending institutions come together in one startling statistic this morning.

One in four first-time buyers opted for a 100% mortgage last year, a figure well down on the one in three who did so 2006. The ratio is reduced, not because of a decline in buyer enthusiasm, but because the banks have imposed stricter guidelines.

Irish Mortgage Corporation conceded that based on the latest average price for a house at a little more than €292,000 a first-time buyer taking out a 35-year, 100% mortgage on a typical 5% rate will pay back €618,949 over the course of the loan.

These figures give a whole new meaning to the phrase “working for the bank” and if, in the light of this startling but in many instances unavoidable commitment, we do not reconsider our love affair with property and how we finance the roof over our head, we deserve to be so exploited.