GeoDirectory, a database of dwellings in Ireland administered by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, has released a report showing that 18,910 residential buildings were under construction in June.

The figures contained in the report prepared by EY Economic Advisory represent a year-on-year increase of 38% and suggest that residential construction activity has rebounded quickly since Covid-19 restrictions on the sector were lifted in April.

Over half (58%) of the residential buildings under construction in Ireland in June were located in the Leinster region. The Greater Dublin Area of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow accounted for 36% of the total number of buildings under construction in the country.

Dwellings under construction in Ulster and Connacht represented just 7% and 11% of residential buildings under construction nationwide respectively.

Dublin’s share of residential buildings under construction nationwide fell by six percentage points year-on-year. Analysis in the report attributes this fall to the increasing share of apartments in Dublin’s new housing mix.

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25,510 new residential addresses were added to GeoDirectory’s nationwide database in the twelve months to June 2021. This represents an increase of 54% when compared to June 2020.

In percentage terms, Leitrim (+220%), Carlow (+147%) and Roscommon (+144%) registered the highest year-on-year growth in new address points, albeit from a previously low base.

The report also found that 10% of all residential stock in the State consists of apartments. 65% of apartments in the country were located in Dublin, where one in five residential dwellings is now an apartment.

There were 92,140 vacant residential properties in the State in June 2021, resulting in a national average vacancy rate of 5%. In total, 16 of the 26 counties recorded a decline in residential vacancy rates in the twelve months to June 2021.

The lowest vacancy rates were in the Greater Dublin Area, with Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow registering vacancy rates of at 1.6%, 2.0% and 2.4% respectively. The counties with the highest vacancy rates were all in Connacht.

The number of residential property transactions totalled 39,520 in the twelve months to May 2021, down 6.5% on the corresponding figure in 2020. The decline was attributed to Covid-related mobility and viewings restrictions and economic uncertainty.

The average residential property price in Ireland across this time period was €306,640. The highest average price was in Dublin (€471,190), while Longford (€129,390) had the lowest average price in the country.

GeoDirectory CEO Dara Keogh (pictured) said: “The GeoDirectory database recorded over 25,000 new residential address points in the past twelve months. This is still short of the levels of stock needed to ease demand, but the data trends suggest that things are moving in the right direction.”