Housing completions fall 17% but demand starts to rise
A total of 1,115 new houses were completed in Cork from January to November last year, down 224 houses on the same period in 2011, when a total of 1,339 houses were completed, data released yesterday by the Construction Industry Federation showed.
The CIF’s National Housing Statistics Bulletin showed that 877 completed units were in Cork county and 238 were in the city.
The city figures increased from 2011, when 122 units were completed, while the county figures dropped from 1,217 completions in 2011.
However, the overall drop in the rate of house-building in Cork was below the national trend, which showed a 20.4% drop, with 7,662 houses completed, down 1,968 on 2011.
CIF director general Tom Parlon said last year’s statistics underline the difficulties facing the sector.
“Nationally, 2012 was the worst year on record for the level of new housing units built,” said Mr Parlon.
“2011 had held the record for the lowest level of house completions, when 10,480 units were built — the lowest since records began in 1970.
“However, we expect the final figure for 2012 to be considerably below that — somewhere in the region of 8,000 units in total.”
Oversupply of housing in certain parts of the country is still a problem but there are signs that this year will be more positive for the sector, said Mr Parlon.
“In urban areas, the level of vacant housing is dropping to low levels and there is also an increased level of demand, he said.
“The fact that house prices are now more affordable is also encouraging interest, following years of price decreases.”
There was a rise in demand for housing in some parts of the country towards the end of 2012 and Mr Parlon said the expectation is that this will continue in 2013, reducing the levels of vacant stock, and leading to more house-building.
The ESRI has said Ireland needs between 15,000 and 20,000 new housing units each year to meet demographic growth.
