Threshold has warned that the majority of people in Ireland are locked out of home ownership due to skyrocketing property prices.

CSO data released this week shows that the average price of a home in Dublin was €370,000 in February.

That is more than nine times more than the average person earns in a year.

Central Bank rules mean people can't borrow more than three-and-a-half times their salary.

Residential property prices in the capital have now risen over 92% since their low point in the property crash.

Threshold chair John Mark McCafferty said many people face being stuck in the rental market for the rest of their lives.

“People are effectively locked out of home ownership,” he said. “Especially younger people and people on middle incomes.

“Some will now spend the rest of their lives in the private rented sector and that puts huge pressure on that sector, especially given the affordability issues and the lack of security of tenure that many people face.”

Residential Property Prices. Image: CSO

According to the CSO data residential property prices around the country rose by 4.3% in the first two months of the year – and 12.5% since the same time last year.

Prices in Dublin rose by 1.4% in the first two months of the year.

Property prices in the rest of the country rose by 7.5% in the first two months of the year – meaning they are up 12.55 since the same time last year.

National prices remain 18.8% lower than the 2007 peak – with prices in Dublin 22.1% lower.