State-led action action is only solution as report suggests Dublin house prices 25% over-valued
House prices in Dublin are 25% over-valued against income, according to a report by The Economist.
Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin said more affordable housing solutions must be built to combat the issue.
"The real solution is to have an adequate supply of good quality, affordable housing, and to ensure that social and affordable housing is made available to everyone who needs it, along with whatever other supports they might need to maintain their homes," he said.
"Nearly 10,000 people are homeless and over 100,000 households are on waiting lists for social housing. This is not their fault. It is our fault, as a nation, for not providing adequate housing and for not more tightly regulating the private rental market."
Mr Howlin said the difference between income and property prices means people in typical jobs" cannot afford housing in the capital.
"Rents have increased by over 40% since the start of 2011, and are now 7% higher than they were at the height of the Celtic Tiger at the end of 2007.
"But national statistics show that incomes have, on average, just about returned to where they were a decade ago.
"Research by The Economist has shown that there is growing gap between average incomes and the cost of housing in Dublin.
What that implies is that more and more people in typical jobs, such as retail or security, are unable to afford the cost of housing in Dublin.
"The only solution to the ongoing housing crisis is for State-led action, on a massive scale, to deliver tens of thousands of units of housing annually."
The report in The Economist also shows that property price growth in the city has outpaced growth in 22 other global cities over the past five years.
