Carol Tallon, author of the Irish Property Buyers Handbook joined The Pat Kenny Show to discuss the Irish property market - she warns that buyers face a tough few years as they wait for more supply to come on the market.

The age profile of Ireland's first-time buyers is set to change from the old norm of people buying in their late 20s - to a new situation where people will be closer to 40 when they get on the ladder.

Once people buy - it is unlikely that they will move, she says we can, "forget the concept of a starter home - it is no more" and that in the new market, "what you buy is what you are committing to."

She adds that a new cohort of Irish people will never own a home: "Home ownership in Ireland has been seen as a right-of-passage, that is simply not the case any more."

"It's easier to stay in a bad position than to try to get into a good one."

She warns that this will be a difficult period: "The Irish economy is in a recovery - that sounds like a good thing - but actually recovery is a painful process. It can be more painful than the crash."

Ms Tallon continues: "It's easier to stay in a bad position than to try to get into a good one."

As the economy improves there will be plenty of people who are ready to buy houses - but they will also be aware that there is a shortage in the market at the moment - and that they are likely to end up paying over the odds.

These people will rent - and wait for the market to calm down.

The squeeze in supply, and the new tougher mortgage rules will have the unintended consequence of creating a spike in rent costs.

High rents will make it harder for people to save deposits.

Banks are being a lot stricter about who they lend to. Even if you save up a 10 or 20 percent deposit - lenders are wary of giving money to people who work in any industry that it views as being in anyway volatile.

Ms Tallon argues that this will be a difficult period for people - but it is good for the market in the long run:

"We can take a reasoned approach to this. Looking at the growth of new developments all around the country - we can see that there has been a massive surge in planning applications."

There has also been a 60 percent increase in the amount of building projects that are currently getting off the ground - so the price spike is temporary and the market will relax when these new properties are completed.