Almost 27,000 residential address points were added in the year to June, according to database company GeoDirectory, a decrease of more than one-fifth on the total recorded in the previous 12 months.
While the number of new properties being added slowed, the firm’s report for the second quarter of this year shows that more previously vacant or derelict properties are being brought back into use.
A total of 22,842 residential buildings were under construction in June, up 2 per cent on the same point last year. Construction activity was strongest in Leinster, which accounted for almost two-thirds (62.9 per cent) of all building activity.
GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and property registration and valuation agency Tailte Éireann. It has developed a database mapping the almost two million buildings that receive post in the State.
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Its report says Dublin was the county with the highest proportion of residential buildings under construction at 17.2 per cent of the national total, followed by Kildare (15 per cent), Cork (10.7 per cent) and Meath (6.7 per cent).
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In total, the greater Dublin area – consisting of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow – accounted for 43.7 per cent (9,965) of the total number of buildings under construction nationally at the end of the second quarter.
The report states the national residential vacancy rate dropped in June to 3.9 per cent (down from 4.2 per cent a year earlier) and now represents the lowest figure recorded on the database.
Dublin was the county with the lowest residential vacancy rate (at 1 per cent) ahead of Kildare (1.2 per cent), Waterford (2.3 per cent), Meath (2.3 per cent) and Louth (2.5 per cent). The highest vacancy rates were reported in Connacht, with Leitrim (12.2 per cent), Mayo (10.8 per cent) and Roscommon (10.6 per cent) the only counties above 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, 21,134 residential address points were recorded as derelict in the second quarter, down 3.5 per cent on the same time last year. The highest concentration of derelict properties was on the west coast with Mayo registering 13.5 per cent of the national total, followed by Donegal (11.8 per cent) and Galway (8.8 per cent).
The average residential property price was €366,291 in the 12 months to May, with the average price increasing in every county. The highest average property prices were recorded in Dublin (€538,168), Wicklow (€470,779) and Kildare (€387,046), which were the only counties above the national average.
At €174,436, Longford was the county with the lowest average residential property price, followed by Leitrim (€178,571), Roscommon (€181,402) and Donegal (€192,679). These were the only counties where the average property price was below €200,000.
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A total of 49,079 residential property transactions took place in the year to May, of which 18.7 per cent were newly built dwellings.
GeoDirectory chief executive Dara Keogh said while the latest report highlighted a decrease in the number of new address points recorded in the last year, the company had seen “increased utilisation of the housing stock and an increase in the pipeline of new housing stock under construction”.
“The drop in output over the last 12 months may be due to material supply issues, inflationary pressure on the construction sector along with rising interest rates,” he said. “As a result, supply in the housing market remains tight, and demand is high, which has forced the national vacancy rate below 4 per cent for the first time since GeoDirectory has started tracking residential vacancy rates.”
Annette Hughes, director of EY Economic Advisory Services, said the reduction in derelict and vacant addresses indicated that “key policy settings and incentives are beginning to have impact”.
