Housing completions remain at record lows

FIGURES from the Department of the Environment show housing completions stayed at record lows following the boom years.

In April the statistics show that just 2,430 homes were built, pushing the figure for the first four months to a total of 10,041 for the year to date.

Figures are based on the number of new dwellings connected by the ESB in a given month and may lag the total to a limited degree.

Last year department figures show 51,724 homes were built against 93,419 when the industry peaked in 2006.

The figures for the first four months reflect the bursting of the housing bubble and an economy now in deep recession.

The latest forecasts suggest the economy will decline by about 9% this year, much worse than previously expected.

The most recent figures for the economy show it went into recession in 2008 when GNP fell 3.1% in volume terms compared with 2007.

The corresponding decline in GDP was 2.3% in 2008. This was the first contraction in economic activity since 1983, DKM Economic Consultants said in a report on behalf of the Department of the Environment published recently.

The slump in housing reflects a market in “free fall” it said and added that for 2009 it expects the number of houses built to number no more than 20,000 or way below the 51,7000 completed last year.

The report said that its 20,000 target for this year was fraught with difficulties for a number of reasons.

It cited the glut of houses currently on the market while the number of properties coming vacant due to job losses and emigration made it even more difficult to estimate a final figure for the current year.

According to the TSB/ESRI index, house prices are now over 21.5% cheaper in real terms while rents have fallen by 15% in the first four months of the year according to daft.ie