Housing numbers boost as 37,000 new units built – but ‘still work to do’

CLOSE to 37,000 new housing units were built last year or are in the process of coming on stream in the new year, a new survey has revealed.

By the end of December, 36,218 new residential units will have been added to the national database of residential stock in 2017, known as the GeoDirectory. The list includes units built in 2017 and those still under construction but due to come on stream in the new year.

The figures, from the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report, also reveal 67.3pc of all new units were built in Dublin (24,370), followed by counties Meath (1,804) and Cork (1,708). The greatest additions to the housing database were in com- muter-belt counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow, accounting for 77pc of the total. Co Leitrim had the fewest number of new units at just 74, followed by Co Carlow at 128 and Co Sligo at 155.

The survey also found more than twice as many buildings were under construction last year than in 2016.

Multi-unit

A total of 7,457 buildings – which includes multi-unit dwellings such as apartment complexes – were under construction in 2017, an increase of 2,547 buildings over 2016.

The number of new residential units being built in 2017 stood at 17,151, with the greatest number of ‘residential commencements’ taking place in Co Dublin at 6,869, compared to Co Leitrim with just 32.

The current total number of residential dwellings now stands at 1,974,349, including 179,530 apartments.

The national vacancy rate was 4.8pc in December, with Dublin and surrounding areas recording the lowest rates nationally. Vacancies in Dublin stood at 0.8pc, 2pc in Kildare and 2.5pc in Wicklow. Leitrim had the highest vacancy rate at 16.4pc, followed by Roscommon (13.8pc) and Mayo (13pc).

Meanwhile, the average national cost of a house to October 2017 was €262,061, which drops to €188,000 when Dublin is factored out of the equation. The average national cost to October 2016 was €239,000, or €168,000 when Dublin is excluded.

The average house price in Dublin was more than one and a half times the national average price at €406,971, with counties Wicklow, Kildare and Meath also high at €333,355, €262,543 and €252,679 respectively.

But leafy Dublin 4, which includes the exclusive neighbourhood of Ballsbridge, recorded the highest average property price of €735,768, while Dublin 10, which includes the neighbourhoods of Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard, was the only postal code in Dublin to have average property prices below €200,000, with the average home price recorded at €196,639.

GeoDirectory CEO Dara Keogh said: “While progress has been made, there is still work to do in order to meet demand.”