The number of new homes completed in the Republic is set to fall for the first time in 14 years, the Department of the Environment will confirm today. T im O'Brienreports.
There is bad news also for the owners of second-hand homes across the State which the department claims fell in value by 4 per cent in the first nine months of 2007. The situation was even worse in Dublin where the average price for a second-hand house was €489,749, down 10.8 per cent on the same period in 2006.
The average price of a new home approved for a loan in Dublin was €412,324, a fall of 3.2 per cent on the first nine months of 2006. The overall average price of new houses actually rose by 3.2 per cent in the first nine months of 2007.
The figures are contained in the latest housing bulletin which is to be launched by Minister of State Batt O'Keeffe. It reveals the number of housing units completed in the first 11 months of the year was 71,598. The figures imply about 77,000 new homes will be built in the full year - down from the 13-year-on-year record of 93,419 in 2006.
While the figures are further confirmation of a slowdown in the construction industry, Mr O'Keeffe said the numbers "confirm the housing market is evolving on a more balanced and sustainable growth pattern, particularly with regard to house prices and mortgage-lending".
Mr O'Keeffe said it was generally accepted that demand for housing in the medium term was likely to be in the mid- to high 60,000s. The bulletin says more than 7,500 social and affordable houses were delivered in the first nine months of 2007, up by 29 per cent on 2006.
The figures to the end of September also show:
796 new units were acquired on long-term leases under the Rental Accommodation Scheme in the first nine months of 2007. This brings the stock of long-term lease units under the scheme to 1,201 by the end of September 2007;
6,670 social houses were started or acquired in the first nine months of 2007, which is on schedule to meet the 9,000 target for social housing by the end of the year;
1,781 affordable housing units were provided under various affordable housing schemes (this includes just 193 units on the State/ local authority lands element of the Affordable Housing Initiative and 70 houses purchased directly by the Affordable Housing Partnership). About 37 per cent of affordable housing units were provided in Dublin;
1,538 Part V social and affordable units were acquired in the first nine months of 2007, up 11 per cent over the same period in 2006. A further 5,456 units were in progress at the end of September 2007.
House price figures in the bulletin are based on examination of 20,000 mortgage approvals. The average price of a new house nationally was €319,214 in the third quarter of 2007, while the average price of a second-hand house nationally was €374,392.