The construction industry responded positively to demand for housing this year, but the level of demand is still far greater than supply, according to figures revealed in the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report, published by GeoDirectory.
The report finds that 36,218 new dwellings were added to the GeoDirectory database in 2017, 1.8 per cent of the total residential stock. Of these new addresses, the overwhelming majority were located in the capital and surrounding counties, with Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow accounting for 77.4 per cent of the overall total.
In Westmeath, 228 new dwellings were added to the total residential stock. Leitrim had the lowest number of new addresses in the country, with only 74 properties added to the database in 2017.
The GeoDirectory database estimates a total of 95,114 vacant dwellings in the country, 4.8 per cent of the overall national residential housing stock. This represents a slight decrease on the previous report in June 2017, which estimated the vacancy rate to be 4.9 per cent.
Of the 26 counties examined, 14 recorded vacancy rates above the national average. The vacancy rate in Westmeath was 5.6 per cent, which was higher than the national average.
The average residential property price in Westmeath in 2017 was €136,599. This was lower than the national average of €262,061. Excluding Dublin city and county, the average national property price was €187,623.
In Westmeath, the area with the highest average residential property price in 2017 was Mullingar at €159,961.
Commenting on the findings of the report, GeoDirectory CEO Dara Keogh said: “The findings of the latest GeoView report suggest that residential construction increased sharply in 2017. However, building is heavily concentrated around Dublin and surrounding counties, while demand for housing stock remains at a high level. While progress has been made, there is still work to do in order to meet demand.”
The GeoDirectory database is the most comprehensive address database of dwellings in the Republic of Ireland. A copy of the GeoView Residential Buildings Report is available at www.geodirectory.ie
