It now costs €16,169.15 a year, or 43 percent of the average national wage to own and maintain a house.

These figures were released yesterday by AA Home Insurance, who created these detailed calculations and also noted that the figure has risen by more than three percent since last year. The cost of owning a home saw a rise from €215,000 in the third quarter of 2016 to €228,000 during the same period of this year. Dublin saw the biggest increase, with a concern that these growing house prices will be difficult for first time buyers to meet. According to Conor Faughnan, AA's director of consumer affairs who spoke to the Independent.ie, he said the key is to hunt around when buying."One thing this piece of research does demonstrate is the effectiveness of shopping around. Across all the bills, you'll see considerable variations between competitors. Spend a little time on the research and it can certainly save you money," said Mr Faughnan. AA Home Insurance also revealed that the average home owner spends €1,246.83 on "wear and tear",€707.75 on heating,€857.81 on electricity and then over €2,000 on internet, refuse, telephone and household appliances combined.