Covid-19 has had a major impact on the residential housing supply in Ireland so far this year, the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report reveals.
The report, released by GeoDirectory and EY-DKM today, reveals that the number of new residential address points added to the GeoDirectory database fell by 32.9% in the 12 months to June 2020.
A total of 16,617 new address points were recorded, with 50.5% of these located in the Greater Dublin Area of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
30.2% of all new address points were located in Dublin, with GeoDirectory saying this was much higher than the total percentage of additions in Munster (21.4%), Connacht (10.7%) and Ulster (4.1%).
Leitrim, Roscommon and Longford were the counties with the fewest new additions to the database.
Today's report also shows that the number of residential buildings under construction has fallen over the past year.
A total of 13,661 residential buildings were listed as under construction in June 2020, a 3.2% drop compared to the previous year when 14,107 buildings were under construction.
Dublin recorded the highest proportion of residential construction activity in the country at 20.5%. However, activity there is also down 9.6 percentage points on June 2019 levels.
Residential construction work was particularly weak in the Midlands and North-West of the country, with the lowest levels recorded in Leitrim (0.1% of national total), Longford (0.6%), Offaly (0.7%) and Sligo (0.7%).
Meanwhile, 41,363 residential property transactions were recorded in the 12 months to May 2020, of which 18.8% were new homes.
This represents a drop of 7.6% on the corresponding figure in 2019.
A reduction in property transactions was recorded in 24 out of 26 counties in the State, the report noted.
13,008 residential property transactions took place in Dublin, which was 1,633 fewer than the previous year. The lowest volume of transactions took place in Monaghan (268), Leitrim (307) and Longford (325).
The average house price increased by €3,643 (1.2%) to €296,758 in the twelve months to May 2020. When Dublin is excluded, the national average house price stands at €230,492.
GeoDirectory said that only three counties recorded average residential property prices above the State average.
Dublin saw average house prices of €441,205, with Wicklow coming in at €369,057 and Kildare at €314,046.
The lowest average house prices were recorded in the counties of Leitrim (€118,241), Longford (€128,615) and Roscommon (€130,860).
Annette Hughes, Director of EY-DKM Economic Advisory Services, said that while additions to the housing stock and construction activity have fallen over the past year, it should also be noted that the majority of new housing stock and building activity is mainly located in Leinster - and the Greater Dublin Area in particular.
Ms Hughes said this may change in future depending on employment trends such as working from home.
She also noted that the national average house price increased by 1.2% in the 12 months to May 2020, a much slower rate than the same time last year with a growth rate of 5.8%.
"However, it is important to acknowledge the lag between a property going sale agreed and the execution of the associated contract, means that the figures reported for July and August will more fully capture any Covid-19 impacts on prices," she added.
