With house prices in Ireland having risen more in the first six months of 2017 than in the whole of last year and a                           record total of 8,160 people homeless in Ireland, Accuracy took to the streets to get the views of Irish people.

We spent a whole day talking to Irish people about living in Ireland as well as doing a survey with a nationally representative
sample of 1000 adults.

Here are some of our findings 

• 86% of the public agree that house prices are RISING TOO QUICKLY

This view is held across all regions though slightly less so by those living in Connacht and Ulster.

Also this view is most strongly held by those from higher income households (ie an annual household income of over €55,000).

Almost 2/3 (64%) of all adults believe we are in the middle of a HOUSING BUBBLE.
Interestingly younger people (68%) and those living in Dublin (73%) are most likely to hold this view.

While almost 1/2 of all Irish adults (47%) believe that history is due to repeat itself and we are heading for a HOUSING CRASH.

This nationally representative survey results raise a host of interesting questions namely:

• Are rising house prices sustainable?
• Are house prices likely to continue to rise in the absence of supply?
• Are the Banks correctly applying the Central Bank’s rules on mortgage lending and if so, are the current rules appropriate?
• Is the Government’s help-to-buy scheme actually helping first-time buyers or simply fuelling an overheating market?
• What will the impact of increasing house prices be on wage inflation and can we as a nation afford to increase industry wages and remain competitive internationally?

Lastly are we heading for another crash? If so, who will be first to see it coming and who will be brave enough to stick their heads’ above the parapet?

Methodology: Nationally representative online sample.