Up to 13,000 homes built in 12 months to July

Only 13,000 new homes were built in the 12 months to July, far below what is needed to tackle the Republic’s housing shortage, figures released on Tuesday show.

The State’s Geodirectory database showed that there were 2,008,568 homes in the Republic in July, and that 13,062 had been added over the previous 12 months.

Research by the organisation indicates that construction levels are still too low to match demand. Geodirectory says that data from the Property Price Register and Central Statistics’ Office support this.

The report, commissioned by Geodirectory from DKM Economic Consultants, shows that 45,138 homes were sold during the 12 months to last June, almost 90 per cent of them were second hand.

Dara Keogh, chief executive of Geodirectory, said that building is not keeping up with increased demand. "The increased demand and low levels of construction tend to put increased pressure on prices, as we've seen in the Dublin market," he added.

Dublin had the highest sale price, €342,284 in the Republic, ahead of Wicklow at €277,394 and Kildare at €235,582.