Sales prices for Cairn Homes 'relatively flat' despite inflation adding to cost 

Michael Stanley, chief executive of Cairn Homes, said the company is on course to deliver between 1,750 and 1,800 new homes sales this year.

Pricing levels for new homes have stayed “relatively flat” for property developer Cairn Homes despite inflation expecting to add €10,000 to the cost of each unit this year, the company’s mid-year results has said.

In the first six months of the year, Cairn Homes said it closed 535 new home sales - including private sales and sales to the State - which generated revenue of €215m. 

The company has also agreed over 1,100 new home sales so far this year. There are 2,230 new homes currently closed or in the forward sales pipeline with a net sales value of over €800 million.

According to property website Daft.ie, house prices fell in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2022 marking the first year-on-year decline in three years. The average price of a home nationally stood at €309,648, a drop of 0.5% 

Michael Stanley, chief executive of Cairn Homes, said the company is on course to deliver between 1,750 and 1,800 new homes sales this year.

It is projecting turnover in excess of €650m from these home sales. Among the projects it expects to close in the second part of the year include developments at Parkleigh, Clonburris, and Sorrel Wood, Blessington.

It added that it remains on target to deliver over 800 social and affordable new homes nationwide.

The company said that unit closings as well as profit and cash generation are heavily weighted towards the second half of the year as they have been in other years.

Cairn Homes said that the demand for nearly zero-emission building compliant, A2-rated new homes remains exceptionally strong across starter and trade-up/down houses, duplexes and scaled apartment developments.

Operating profit is expected to grow to between €105m and €110m this year. 

“All of our forecasted closed new home sales in 2023 and nearly 90% of our expected closings in 2024 have full planning permission. This will underpin our continued growth as we make progress towards our 15% return on equity target,” the company said.

Cairn Homes is set to release its 2023 interim results on September 7. The Board said that it intends to announce a 3.1c interim dividend per ordinary share when the interim results are published.

The €40 million share buyback programme is continuing with 21.2 million ordinary shares repurchased at an average purchase price of €1.06 per share since March 3 this year.