The number of new houses built this year could break last year's all-time record.
Nearly 77,000 homes were completed in 2004 but the total for the first 10 months of this year is already running at 62,248 - an increase of 2.3 per cent on the equivalent period in 2004.
Announcing the figures, Minister of State at the Department of Environment Noel Ahern said: "At this stage, the figures would seem to be pointing to another year of very high output, which may even exceed the record level reached last year."
Dublin at 14,122 units and the Greater Dublin Area at 21,585 units are up 4.6 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively on the corresponding period in 2004.
The data also showed a similar upward trend in other leading indicators of housing construction.
The number of housing "starts" to the end of September was 61,954 while there were 52,960 new registrations up to the end of October.
"These figures point to a continuation of a strong level of house building in the short to medium term," Mr Ahern added. There were 76,954 houses completed in 2004, compared to 21,391 in 1993.