Housing shortage 'trickle' sees prices rise for first-time buyers

Supply shortage underpins price rises for first-time buyers, finds Trish Dromey.

A few years ago, first-time buyers couldn’t get credit to buy a house. And, now that they can, cruelly, there is a chronic shortage of the type of affordable properties that they need and want.

For properties in the first-time buyer )FTB) price range, especially in popular city locations, open viewings have now become the order of the day. These allow auctioneers to cater for the large numbers of buyers who have loan approval and who are watching and waiting for something suitable In Cork city locations some auctioneers have reported as many as 40 people have showed up for viewings and that some are now selling far above the asking prices.