60% increase in new apartments built in two years

There has been a 60% increase in the number of new apartments built in just two years.

However, development is largely concentrated in the capital, with more than two-thirds of new apartments in Dublin.

New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that some 3,644 apartments were completed in 2019.

Some 1,250 of these were completed in the fourth quarter of the year, a 72% increase on the same period in 2018.

While the increase in completions will be welcomed in a market which remains under severe pressure, the bulk of supply is concentrated in Dublin and the mid-east. More than two-thirds of new apartments are in Dublin.

In 2019, the Dublin City Council area saw the completion of 1,257 apartments. Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown saw 740.

In contrast, the Cork City Council local authority area saw just 54 new apartments completed. Limerick city and county saw just 15 new apartments finished and Waterford just 24.

Despite the surge in apartments, Ireland continues to lag far behind other European countries. The 3,644 apartments completed in 2019 represent just 17% of total completions in comparison to an EU average of 59%, according to Goodbody chief economist Dermot O'Leary.

He also noted that the majority of these - some 80% - are purchased by private rental sector investors.

In total, there were 21,141 new dwellings completed in 2019. It is an 18% increase from 2018, though it remains far short of what the 34,000 units that the Central Bank estimates are needed each year until 2030 just to meet demand.

Increases were evident in all sectors, according to the CSO.

Justin Anderson, CSO statistician, said, "There were 12,529 scheme dwellings completed in 2019, a 14% increase from 2018. Scheme dwellings accounted for 59% of all new dwellings. Single dwellings accounted for 24% of all new dwellings in 2019. There were 5,068 single dwellings completed, an increase of 8.2% since 2018."

The primary source of information for the CSO release is new connections to the ESB grid.

As such, student accommodation is not included as large-scale student accommodation complexes are typically connected as commercial connections, not residential ones.

The report notes that there has been "a significant level of construction output in the student accommodation sector" but that it is calculated on a "bed space" basis, not a dwelling basis.

In Q4 2019, 117 new bed spaces were completed. Since Q2 2016, 8,346 new bed spaces were completed.

Most of the development remains concentrated in the Dublin and mid-east area. Some 59% of all completions in 2019 were in this area, with the Naas area seeing the most of any other Eircode region.

Some 81.8% of new dwelling completions are in urban areas.

The average size of new dwellings continues to decline too. It decreased by 6% in 2019.

The CSO state that this is due to "an increase in the proportion of completed dwellings being apartments and a decrease in the size of single and scheme dwellings".