Figure from the Department of the Environment show that 47,758 houses were built in the first nine months of 2003, up 18.3% on the same period in 2002.
Housing Minister Noel Ahern said the indicators pointed to a record year for housing completions in 2003, which would bring greater stability to the market.
The Housing Statistics Bulletin for the September quarter shows that there were 12,800 hectares of zoned serviced land nationally at the end of June 2003, the equivalent of 369,000 units of housing.
House completions in Dublin in the third quarter were 10,500, up 16% on the same period in 2002. 3,276 local authority houses were built, an annual increase of nearly 35%.
The bulletin also shows that €4.5 billion worth of mortgages was approved in the third quarter of last year, an increase of 28% on the same period a year earlier. The number of loan approvals was up 12.8% to 25,433.
But the number and value of approvals were down - by 7.7% an 7.4% respectively - compared with the second quarter of 2003.
New house prices rose by 13% nationally and 10.7% in the Dublin area in the year to September 2003.
