There has been a large number of new property developments in Ireland over the past years. It is interesting to see the number of developments and the completion percentage on them, and the Dublin housing market is also very important to keep an eye on heading into the new year. This blog will speak on new information surrounding the Irish housing market.
In the entirety of 2020 there were 6000 new homes in Dublin, and 48 percent of these homes were apartments. The other 48 percent of new homes were estate houses, and the leftover percentage is for single houses. This is a adequate performance for the construction industry, when you factor in the negative effect from lockdowns. Without excluding Covid-19 as a measuring stick, the housing market performed well compared to 2019 where 6,994 new homes were built. Without factoring in Dublin, there were a little under 14,000 new homes built in 2020. 53 percent of these were estate houses, 40 percent were single houses, and just 7 percent of these were apartments. Once you leave the Dublin city limits, the number of apartments being built drops dramatically.
Real estate agents estimate that at least 22,000 new homes will be built in Ireland during 2021. Even with the construction lockdown lasting January through March, these numbers look very positive. However, only around 25 percent of these apartments will be used by homeowner and renters, and the other 75 percent makes up estate and single houses. To build more than 22,000 homes nationally there must be a serious increase in housing commencements. Commencements had lagged in 2020 because of the emphasis on getting homes completed and occupied for people requiring accommodation.
The shortage in apartment construction in Dublin and other large Irish cities is disconcerting because the need for city living is very important. Other than the shortage in Dublin, there were only 56 apartments built in Cork city in 2019 and 122 in the first nine months of 2020. The other apartment completion figures in Irish cities are collectively less than a quarter of what is required for the sale and rental markets. They easily show the damage being caused by the lack of viability in apartment construction costs.
These are just some of the few numbers that categorize the Irish housing market. The Dublin investment sector numbers are looking very positive heading into 2021 as well. Hopefully the housing market will be fruitful in 2021 and the continuing years. It will be interesting to see how these things shake out, and it is necessary for Irish citizens to keep track on these economic details.
Written By John Spurrier, Mortgage Analyst at Online Application