The Real Cost of Buying a House in Ireland

If you want to get on that first rung of the property ladder then you’re probably interested in knowing how much it actually costs to buy a house in Ireland.

The short answer? It costs €38,500, give or take.

The long answer? It depends.

This number is simply a figure based roughly on a 10% deposit and stamp duty for the average house in Ireland[1], plus a few thousand for legal fees and also other necessities such as mortgage protection insurance.

The reality is much more complicated.

Depending on where you buy, this number can change massively. In 2023, the average cost of a house in Dublin city centre was €377,500. Travel to the other side of the country, however, and you’ll be paying a lot less – the average home in County Sligo was listed for less than €195,000, for example[2].

Even within Dublin there is significant variation – houses in Dublin 6 have a median price of €850,000 whereas houses in Dublin 22 cost over €600,000 less![3]

Additional costs: what do I need to buy a house?

Most people are already well aware that the deposit is the main expense when it comes to buying their first home.

This figure is generally at least 10% of the value of the house for first-time buyers. So to buy a €300,000 house, you would need a deposit of €30,000 or more.

If you’re able to put in more than the minimum figure, you can – but you must have at least that amount in order to buy the property.

But apart from this, what else will you need?

• Mortgage protection: this is a legal requirement for buying a house in most cases. Fortunately, it’s not hugely expensive – in fact, depending on your age, health, level of cover, term, and plan you need then you could get it for as little as €13.13 per month including the 1% government levy.
• Legal fees: you’ll need a solicitor to deal with all the paperwork. It might be a flat fee or a percentage of the property value, but in either case you could expect to pay around €1,500 to €3,000 plus VAT for this[4].
• Stamp duty: the rate of stamp duty is 1% of the first €1,000,000 of the property sale price, and 2% on anything above that. If you’re buying a new build, you don’t pay stamp duty on the VAT of the property price.
• A surveyor: this isn't a legal requirement, but it's a great idea to budget between €500 and €1,500 for a professional to look at the house and see if there are any structural or other hidden issues with the building.
• Moving costs: depending on your situation, you might need to hire a company or a van to actually fill the new house with all your stuff!
• Furnishing: many renters don’t have their own furniture, so buying at least the bare essentials (like a bed) should be factored into your savings plan.
• Home insurance: most mortgage providers require your home to be insured as a condition of the loan, so be sure to get this sorted. You will need this in addition to your mortgage protection.
• An emergency fund: this is more of a “nice to have” than a necessity for buying a home but ideally, you’d have a bit of money put aside after all of the above. You don’t want to be three months into the new home and find yourself facing an unexpected expense with no money in the bank.

Do I really need home insurance as well as mortgage protection?

Yes. Even though the two kinds of insurance seem similar at first glance, they are different and both necessary.

Mortgage protection insurance is a type of life insurance, covering you (and anyone you buy a property with) and paying towards the mortgage balance if you die.

Home insurance is a type of insurance protecting the property itself (and optionally its contents), paying for damage to a home caused by things such as fires, floods, subsidence, and theft.

So while they might seem the same, they are different kinds of insurance covering different situations – and generally, mortgage lenders need you to have both.

Get a mortgage protection quote here.

What exactly is stamp duty in Ireland?

It sounds more complicated than it is. Basically, it’s a tax on the transfer of property in Ireland.

You’ll usually pay it to your solicitor who will then pay it to Revenue on your behalf.

Typically the value of stamp duty is 1% of the property value, but there are some exceptions:

• If the property is worth over €1,000,000 you pay 1% on the first million, and then 2% on the balance. So a €1.5 million property is subject to stamp duty of €20,000.
• If the property is a new build, 13.5% VAT is included in the sale price and you don’t pay stamp duty on this. So a €500,000 new build is actually €432,500 plus VAT, and the stamp duty is €4,325 rather than €5,000.

What is conveyancing?

This is just the fancy legal term for transferring property ownership.

Because it’s a complicated process, you need a solicitor to take care of this for you. The legal fees you pay cover the costs of conveyancing, which includes handling contracts, dealing with the Land Registry, and any other formalities needed.

How to save for a house deposit (and other essential costs)

There’s no two ways about it: saving up enough money for a deposit and the associated costs of buying a house is tough, no matter the price of the property you’ve set your sights on.

In fact, it takes the average person nearly half a decade to get there[5].

It could seem like an impossible task when you’re looking at a savings balance of €0, but there are some steps you can take to try and reach your milestone goal.

Build savings into your budget

If you need to save up tens of thousands of Euro, then you’re not going to do it by occasionally putting away what you happen to have left at the end of the month.

To reach a significant savings goal, you’ll need to be consistently adding to your fund.

Something like the 50/30/20 rule makes sure that you’re staying on track. In short, it ensures that you’re putting 20% of your take-home income into savings – but if you can manage more, you should do it!

Consider investing

With the average saver taking nearly five years to reach their target for a house deposit, investing could be a great strategy.

Using investing as an alternative to saving might be the right thing to do if you have a long-term savings goal, like a house deposit.

You might be wondering about the risk of investment, and it’s a fair question. When you invest, you might lose some or all of your money. But because inflation can erode the value of your savings over time, investing your money gives it a chance to outpace inflation.

With some luck, you could even reach your savings goal earlier than you planned.

Be patient

It might feel depressing to work out your monthly savings, look at your target amount, and then realise that it will take years and years to reach your goal.

But think about it – the time is going to pass anyway. It can be really difficult to stick to a long-term goal when the end is so far away, but consistently putting money aside over time will get you there in the end.

  

[1] Residential Property Price Index February 2024 | Central Statistics Office, Feb 2023

[2] Average List Price of Residential Real Estate in Ireland 2023 | Statista, Q2 2023

[3] Household Purchases of Residential Dwellings | Central Statistics Office, Feb 2023

[4] Costs for Buying a House | Bank of Ireland, Jun 2024

[5] 4.6 years on average to save for mortgage deposit | RTÉ, Mar 2024