New figures show that the number of new buildings recorded across the country in the first half of this year was down 40% from the same period last year.
GeoDirectory, which was set up by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, compiles a database of commercial and residential buildings in Ireland.
It says 8,119 new buildings were recorded in the first six months of this year, compared with 13,545 a year earlier. Of this year's new buildings, 6,682 were residential, 984 commercial and 453 dual purpose.
GeoDirectory said Cork City and County added the most buildings, with 1,075 residential, 108 commercial and 73 dual purpose buildings. Leitrim recorded the lowest number of additions - with 74 residential, nine commercial properties and eight dual purpose buildings.
The new additions for the first six months of 2010 bring the total number of buildings in the Republic of Ireland to 1,873,346. Since 2001, GeoDirectory recorded an average of 68,000 new buildings a year, with a peak in 2007 when more than 90,000 new buildings were added to the database.
Home asking prices down again in Q2
The latest report from property website Daft.ie shows that asking prices for homes fell by 4.2% during the second quarter of this year.
The report says the national average asking price for property has fallen 37% since the peak and now stands at €220,000.
Daft.ie says Dublin prices fell by 5% in the past three months and are now 40% lower than during the peak. Elsewhere in the country, prices are 34% below the peak on average.
In Cork and Limerick prices fell by 3% and 2% respectively during the last three months, while prices in Waterford fell by 7%. The largest falls in the country were in Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, where asking prices fell by an average of 11%, having been static for the past six months.
Daft.ie economist Ronan Lyons said that while falls in asking prices were slower than last year, the stock of homes for sales remained high, particularly outside the main cities. But he said properties were selling in Dublin, with almost half of those listed in January now either sale agreed or sold.
The report is based on an analysis of all properties posted for advertisement on Daft.ie up to June 30, including 38,000 posted in the second quarter of 2010.
