A survey by stockbroking firm Merrion has found that 60% of housebuilders are currently not building at all. 45% of the companies it surveyed expected not to complete any houses in 2009.
Merrion's survey covered 31 companies representing just over 5% of total house completions last year. 68% of builders expect house prices to continue falling in 2009, with 7% expecting falls of 10% to 20%.
Merrion concludes that housebuilders now expect the downturn to be deeper and more prolonged than previously, and that it will be at least 12 to 18 months before the overhang of housing stock is cleared from the market.
Earlier, the managing director of the country's largest contracting company said he expected the construction industry to be just over half of the size it was at the height of the building boom when the current economic downturn ended.
Tom Costello, MD of Sisk, was speaking at a conference of the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Dublin this morning.
He said the Government now had a responsibility to 'frontload' the National Development Plan to support the construction industry, but also to take advantage of the excellent value for money which it could get for projects now.
