A little bit of background . In the USA the rate of home ownership has never gone beyond 70% as in EVER . It only went over 50% for the very first time since the bloody Mayflower landed in about 1950 .
In Ireland , on the other hand , it has rarely gone below 70% in modern times. It’s near enough 80% now .
During the recent mega US bubble it got near 70% for the very first time but only by throwing money at the undeserving .
The ironic thing i find is that professionals have far larger earning potential over there, at least in my game they do, yet their house prices are on the whole far cheaper than here. I could earn probably twice what I do here over there, I could buy a nice detached house with a nice garden in a fairly nice area for the same money I could buy a semi in Crumlin here and have a fair wedge left over to spend on the plasma tv and several holidays a year.
But we have a higher ownership percentage with supposedly a far lower default rate, what gives? I can’t figure that one out at all.
In my line of work I’d get pretty much the same money as in the US but everything is far cheaper there.
In the UK(London) I’d get ~250% more than I get here. Yet house prices are far cheaper on average (remove Kensington etc) in London.
Per salary multiples we are only beaten by the Spainish. Those poor sods get tiny salaries and have to contend with massive property prices. As an example for what I do - salary ~22,000, apartment 400,000. Beat that.
I moved back to the US from Dublin almost 2 years ago. At the time it was still the roaring 20s in Ireland, eg. the 2 bed house I rented in town for 1100e was valued by my LLs estate agent for 550k and the school teachers in the local were in and out of the jacks snorting lines of baby powder every 20 minutes. I earn easily twice as much for the same work here as in Ireland. i live in the Bay Area where prices in nicer areas have still to see significant falls, its coming tho. But in marginal and poor areas the drops have been precipitous. Duplex’s that sold for 600 or 700k 2 years ago are now for sale for less than three. Nevertheless for $500k (around the average price in Dublin) one can buy a craftsman with around 1500sq ft, a nice little garden, parks, schools etc and close to public transport in desirable neighborhoods. Those houses sold for close to the same price at the top, so i guess that represents a real decline of somewhere around 10%.
I go to the supermarket and spend about 30-40% less on my basket than in Ireland and the produce is good, not the half rotten overpriced garbage one finds in Superquinn etc. Thank God for Lidl!