A slowdown is evident in the housing market, with a 20 per cent decrease in the number of planning applications granted for apartments in the first quarter of 2007.
According to figures from the Central Statistics Office, the number of new apartments granted planning permission in the first quarter of 2007 has fallen by almost 20 per cent compared with 2006. Just 4,884 apartments were granted planning permission during the first quarter of 2007, compared with 6,070 apartments during the same period in 2006.
Figures from the report also indicate there has been an overall drop of 8.8 per cent in the number of planning permissions granted in the overall housing market.
Some 20,538 units were granted planning permission in the first quarter of 2007, compared with 22,524 units during the same period in 2006. One-off houses account for 23.1 per cent of all these new dwelling units.
There has also been a decrease in the number of houses which have been granted planning permission. Planning permission was granted for 15,654 houses in the first quarter of 2007, a decrease of 4.9 per cent from 2006.