The amount first-time homebuyers need to save up for the deposit on a house has almost trebled in the last eight years, according to research by a leading mortgage provider.

People under the age of 35 are putting down an average of just over €91,000 in order to borrow €393,000 for a home, Munt Hypotheken said.

House prices rose to an average of €483,000 at the end of last year and are projected to grow in value by another 7.5% in 2025, meaning the average buyer will need to find €520,000 by the end of the year.

In 2017 first-time buyers under 35 saved up €35,000 towards their first home, but since then the onus on househunters to stump up more capital from family or investments has increased dramatically, leaving many people on middle incomes unable to afford a home of their own.

Data bureau Calcasa, which measures prices against current lending standards, calculated at the end of 2023 that buyers who wanted to take out a mortgage without investing any capital up front would have to earn €95,000 – more than double the average income of €44,000.

People moving up the ladder have an average of €203,000 to invest in their next home, fuelled by a 75% increase in prices over the last eight years.

Menno Luiten of Munt Hypotheken, which has 190,000 borrowers on its books, said the profile of first-time buyers had changed radically in the last decade as people spent longer renting and saving up for their own house.

“We like to think of first-time buyers as a couple in their early twenties with a golden retriever, but that’s not the first-time buyer of today,” he told AD.nl. “They’re typically in their thirties and may have been working for 10 years, so they’ll definitely have some savings.”