House registrations down 90% in rural areas over 12 months, says CIF

THE number of new houses registered fell sharply over the last 12 months with many rural areas seeing a near 90% drop.

Figures released by the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) show the number of new homes registered in the year to the end of April 2009 plunged more than 70% compared with the same period a year earlier. Just 19 houses were registered in Longford in the 12 months compared with 90 in the previous year. Cavan saw a 89% drop with just 65 houses registered compared with 594 a year earlier.

According to the figures, which are based on stats compiled by Homebond and Premier, Dublin saw a 55% drop in registrations with 3,017 houses registered in the last 12 months compared with 6,708 the previous year. In Cork registrations plunged 64%, while Limerick was particularly hit falling 82%.