New generation is pushed into tail-back hell

FAST rises in house prices show that we are slow learners in this country. The latest figures show the pace of property price rise has picked up yet again, pushing value beyond what ordinary families can afford. Prices were more than 12pc higher in December than a year previously, which is three times faster than wage rises.

It costs the average buyer €20,000 more to buy now than a year ago, with the mean price across the country currently at more than €280,000. The “premium” in Dublin, or the higher cost of buying in the capital, is now close to €150,000.

Experts expect prices to continue to rise due to a chronic shortage of supply and a tightening of the Central Bank rules for second-hand buyers.

On top of this comes the scary findings of a survey that more than one in four potential new buyers is resigned to buying far from where they work.

The respondents said they are prepared to commute more than 30km from work to home, according to the Red C research commissioned by Bank of Ireland. The corrosive longdistance commute has returned.

We are back where we left off 10 years ago when the property market got so out of whack it blew up in our faces.

Many still bear the scars in terms of negative equity, high levels of arrears and mortgage rates that are out of line with the rest of the eurozone. Then there are those who bought one-beds they cannot sell, and who can’t raise the deposit to fund a move to a place nearer their work to avoid a long commute every day. The problem may be that Dublin is “eating” the rest of Ireland, but the capital is where the largest demand is for housing. However, a combination of Central Bank borrowing rules and the surge in values is putting houses out of the reach of families in the capital.

The dream of owning a home, and avoiding paying rents that keep hitting new record highs, is why a new generation is prepared again to put up with long train or road journeys. The arrogance of builders is back, and they are again calling the shots.

All this means the emphasis needs to change to large-scale building within a 15km radius of Dublin city centre.

If that means Dublin becomes a high-rise city, then that’s a price worth paying. There is more than enough land in the city area to build houses too.

Yes, we need to develop the regions. But the reality is, Dublin is where most people want to live, and where it is hardest to find a home to buy.