ONE-THIRD of the 20,000 new companies set up this year are in the property sector, according to business information website, Vision-Net.ie

The latest business report from the online firm said some 10,291 companies have been dissolved this year and that an average of 270 new companies were being set up every week.

About 10,250 new companies were set up in the first nine months of the year - an increase of 4.5 per cent on last year, while 58 per cent of people setting up firms, or almost 20,000 people, are becoming company directors for the first time. Some 8,200 people are becoming company directors in the property sector. The average age of new directors is 42, while 65 per cent are male.

Some 379 companies went into liquidation in the third quarter of the year, according to Vision-Net.

There has been a 10 per cent increase in the number of companies being dissolved this year.

"Overall, more companies are going out of business than are starting up," said Christine Cullen, Vision-Net's managing director.

In a separate report, the Society of Chartered Surveyors said construction tender prices have fallen 11 per cent in the past 12 months.