The annual cost of owning and maintaining a family home has dropped for the first time in four years.

The latest household survey from AA Home Insurance says it now costs just over €16,200 a year to run a home.

That figure equates to about 41% of the average Irish national wage and is €220 lower than this time last year.

Those mortgage holders in negative equity who bought at the height of the boom are still worse off - their loan variable rate repayments are around two-thirds higher than someone who bought a home this year.

Conor Faughnan of the AA says those who bought at the height of the boom fare much worse than people who bought this year:

"The big difference between the two of course is that somebody who bought their house this year, would on average have paid €205,000 and carried that mortgage debt. The couple from 2007 would have paid, on average, €344,000 and would be servicing that debt so that instead of paying €16,000 a year they are going to pay almost €22,000."