Almost a fifth of all first-time housebuyers in Ireland are foreign nationals, it was disclosed today.
About 50,000 immigrants have moved to live in the State each year over the past four years, according to the Irish Mortgage Corporation.
It says the vast bulk of these rent properties, but there is now a rising number opting to buy, despite the high prices.
Asians account for 36 per cent of all foreign national first-time buyers, a large proportion of them from India, the Philippines and Pakistan.
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About one fifth of the non-Irish new buyers are from Britain, while 17 per cent are from the European Union, excluding the UK.
Many are from Poland and Baltic states, the figures show.