Housing starts disappoint again with fewer than 1,800 new units
Its latest ‘property watch’ report found that 8,000 new homes were built in the whole of 2015.
That is well short of the annual average of 23,000 new homes that many experts say need to be built, if the supply of new units is to come anywhere close to meeting demand.
“This report is issued in a period of huge political uncertainty,” said Peter Stafford, director of Property Industry Ireland, an offshoot of Ibec.
“Whatever format the new government takes, resolving the housing crisis should be at the top of their agenda,” he said.
The report confirms CSO figures which have in recent months showed that the rates of house price rises outside Dublin are outstripping those in the capital.
Office demand increased in the fourth quarter of last year, while the take-up of industrial space reached its highest level since 2006.
However, there are concerns that there is too much office space being built in the capital.
“We are seeing a resumption of development activity, particularly in the Dublin office sector, which should gather momentum during 2016,” said Annette Hughes, director at DKM Economic Consultants.
“This is already raising concerns about a potential oversupply situation emerging in the Dublin office market,” she said.
Meanwhile, demand for retail units is spreading outside the prime urban districts too, according to the report.
