Residential building activity picks up by close to a fifth in first half – GeoDirectory
The construction of residential buildings picked up quite substantially in the first half of the year, according to GeoDirectory in its latest Residential Buildings Report.
22,390 residential buildings were under construction in June which represents an increase of over 18% on the same time last year.
Construction was constrained in the first half of 2021 as pandemic restrictions applied to most of the sector for the opening months of the year.
“This activity indicates a strong pipeline of residential properties that we would expect to enter the market in the months ahead,” Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory said.
The highest proportion of the buildings under construction was in Dublin which accounted for over 17% of the total.
14.2% were in Kildare while 12% were in Cork.
Kildare recorded the sharpest increase in activity where the year-on-year increase in buildings under construction was over 74%.
According to GeoDirectory’s measure, the vacancy rate in buildings here declined from 4.5% to 4.2% in the year to June.
The highest vacancy rates were found in the west and north-west of the country with Letirim accounting for almost 13%.
Dublin was the county with the lowest vacancy rate in the country at 1.5%.
In addition to vacancies, 21,897 residential address points were classified as derelict – a decline of almost 4% on the same time in 2021.
“When combined with derelict properties, there are still over 100,000 potential properties which could re-enter the market,” Dara Keogh pointed out.
