A total of 31,384 new residential addresses were recorded over the year to June.
GeoDirectory, which records the data, said this represents a 17.1% increase on the same point a year ago.
The highest proportion of the new homes were in Dublin, making up a third of the total, followed by Cork, Meath and Kildare.
“Most of these new addresses are going to come into the main urban centres like Dublin and Cork, and predominantly around Leinster,” said Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory.
“Interestingly enough, the counties with the biggest growth in the last 12 months are West Meath, with 106% [growth], and Kerry with 86%.”
Despite the increase in the housing stock, the number of property transactions recorded in the year to May was down 5.9%.
Mr Keogh said it is not clear why that is the case – but it may simply represent a lag between a home being completed and being sold.
“Maybe over the next six months we’re going to see an increase,” he said. “It’s down around 6% so it’s a small decrease, that could reverse over the next few months.”
“House prices have continued to increase and that may encourage more people to sell into the market.”
A further 21,851 residential buildings were classed as under construction at the midpoint of the year.
That’s down 991 or 4.3% when compared with June of last year.
13.7% of these were located in the capital.
There was a spike in commencement notices, which Mr Keogh said may be artificially boosted by companies trying to get developments onto the system before certain schemes and rules are changed.
He also said that a fall in the number of buildings under construction does not necessarily represent a fall in the number of homes that would come to market in the future.
“It is down around 4% on the figure last year, however that doesn’t necessarily reflect the number of new addresses that are going to come on stream,” he said. “A building can have multiple addresses, so we’re waiting to see how that plays out for the rest of the year.
“But with the commencement notices being so high, it’s looking very positive.”
Construction activity was found to be weakest in the neighbouring counties of Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Longford.
Nationally the rate of vacant residential buildings stood at 3.9% in June, the same as it was at the same stage in 2023, with 82,031 empty.
The lowest vacancy rates was in Dublin at 1.2%, while Leitrim had the highest at 12%.
20,413 residential buildings were classified as derelict, down 3.4% compared to June of last year.
GeoDirectory said the average house price had increased in every county, with the exception of Monaghan.
The average price rose by 4.3% to €381,749, it added.
Article Source – 31,384 new residential addresses recorded in year to June – RTE
