GeoView Residential Report December 2018

21,207 Dwellings Added to National Residential Stock in 2018

Residential construction activity is up 45% on December 2017 levels

GeoView Residential Buildings Report Highlights:

A total of 21,207 residential addresses were added to the GeoDirectory database in 2018, representing 1.1% of the total national residential stock of 1,993,672
10,836 residential buildings were under construction in December 2018, an increase of 121% on December 2016 levels
New dwellings accounted for 20.7% of all residential property transactions in the twelve months to October 2018, 2.7 percentage points higher than the same period in 2017
The national vacancy rate remains unchanged at 4.8%, with 19 counties experiencing a decline in vacancy rates
The average national residential property price is, €284,546 when Dublin is excluded, this falls to €207,135

December 27^th 2018:
New Additions of Residential Housing Stock

The level of construction activity continues to rise, with 10,836 buildings classified as being under construction in December 2018, up 45% on the previous year according to the findings of the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report, released by GeoDirectory today.
The report shows that 21,207 residential address points were added to the GeoDirectory database in the twelve months to December 2018, 1.1% of the total national residential stock. The vast majority of these new addresses were located in Leinster (65.6%), with Dublin accounting for over a third (35.2%) of the overall total.

Construction Activity

In December 2018, 10,836 residential buildings were classified as being under construction in the GeoDirectory database. This represents a 45% increase on the December 2017 levels and a 121% increase on the December 2016 figure when only 4,910 buildings were classified as being under construction.
The Greater Dublin Area was responsible for 55.1% of overall construction activity, an increase of 5.1pp on the regions previous year’s share. Residential construction activity in Ulster and Connacht recorded the lowest shares of construction activity in the State, accounting for 4.9% and 7.5% respectively.

Breakdown of Housing Stock

The GeoDirectory database shows that there was a total of 1,993,672 residential dwellings in Ireland in December 2018. Out of this total, detached dwellings accounted for the largest share at 33.4%, followed by terraced (27.7%) and semi-detached (24.4%) dwellings.
Apartments account for 9.1% of the total residential stock, representing an increase of 2,567 or 1.4% on December 2017. GeoDirectory classifies an apartment as any dwelling which exists in a building of five or more dwellings. 63.6% of all apartments in Ireland are located in Dublin, while the Capital had the highest proportion of apartments relative to its housing stock, at 21.5%.

Vacancy Rates

The national vacancy rate remains unchanged from the December 2017 level of 4.8%. 19 out of 26 counties experienced a decline in residential vacancy rates over the past twelve months. Dublin is the county with the lowest vacancy rate at 1.1%, however it was one of only seven counties to experience an increase in vacancy rates, up 0.3pp on its corresponding rate last year.
The three counties with the highest vacancy rates are all located in Connacht, while the three counties with the lowest were all located in the Greater Dublin Area highlighting the wide gap in vacancy rates between the east and north-west coasts. Leitrim had the highest vacancy rate (15.8%) in the State, followed by Roscommon (13.5%), Mayo (12.8%) and Sligo (10.5%).

Residential Property Transaction and Prices

According to the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report, 20.7% of all property transactions in the twelve months to October 2018, were new dwellings. This represents an increase of 2.7pp on the corresponding figure in 2017 indicating that new building output is increasing. The highest number of new dwelling purchases were recorded in Dublin (27.3% of property transactions), and the surrounding commuter belt counties Meath (39%), Kildare (33.4%), Louth (28%) and Wicklow (25%).
The average residential property price in the twelve months to October 2018 was €284,546, an increase of €22,485 or 8.6% on the same period last year. Dublin (€425,830), Wicklow (€335,092) and Kildare (€294,635) were the only counties to record house prices above the state average. When Dublin is excluded, the average house prices falls to €207,135. The counties with the lowest average house prices were Longford (€106,813), Leitrim (€113,093) and Roscommon (€121,170).

Speaking about the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, Chief Executive, GeoDirectory, said, “Construction activity has increased by 121% in the past two years and we are beginning to see this reflected in residential property transaction data. 20.7% of all residential property transactions in the twelve months to October 2018 were for new dwellings, an increase of 2.7 percentage points on the previous year. We are also seeing a growth in the number of apartments coming on stream. Dublin, in particular, is rising, with 63.6% of all apartments in the state found in the capital.”

Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Advisory Services said, “The latest findings confirm a trend that we have seen in recent GeoView reports, that the construction industry is responding positively to the challenge of meeting housing demand but supply still has a way to go to satisfy demand. There is somewhat of an east-west divide when it comes to construction activity, which is concentrated heavily around Dublin and the surrounding commuter counties. A similar divide is evident when we look at vacancy rates, with the highest vacancy rates occurring in the North-West of the country, while the lowest are recorded in the Greater Dublin Area.”

The GeoDirectory database is the most comprehensive address database of dwellings in the Republic of Ireland. A copy of the GeoView Residential Buildings Report is attached in PDF format and is available at www.geodirectory.ie

ENDS

For Further Information:

Killian Keys, Wilson Hartnell, 086-1024302 / 01-6690030, killian.keys@ogilvy.com
Dara Keogh, CEO, GeoDirectory and Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Advisory Services are available for interview.

GeoDirectory was jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) to create and manage Ireland’s only complete database of commercial and residential buildings. The figures are recorded through a combination of the An Post network of 5,600 delivery staff working with OSi.

The GeoDirectory database is used by many different companies and organisations across a diverse range of applications. Its database and services are used by Central Statistics Office to achieve more accurate census results. Gas Networks Ireland has used GeoDirectory to identify and categorise new potential customers and 11890 Directory Inquiries have used GeoDirectory to provide detailed directions and maps to their customers.
In the property sector, GeoDirectory is used by Daft.ie and the Property Registration Authority. In addition, utility companies, banking and insurance providers, and all local authorities use the database.

GeoFindIT App: An award-winning, free app available to download on iOS and Android. GeoFindIT provides information on the prices of all sold properties in Ireland. In addition, it lists details on thousands of hotels, shops, restaurants and bars across the country.

For further information or to view relevant case studies please visit: www.geodirectory.ie and @GeoDirectory_ie on Twitter.

The most recent GeoView Commercial Vacancy Property Report is available here

Past GeoView Residential Buildings Reports are available to view at:
https://www.geodirectory.ie/knowledge-centre/reports-blogs