OVER 2,000 residential buildings were under construction in Cork last month, according to the latest GeoView Residential Buildings Report published by GeoDirectory and EY Economic Advisory.

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.

Its latest report shows that just over 58% of the residential buildings under construction in Ireland last month were located in the Leinster region. 

In contrast, the lowest levels of construction activity were recorded in Ulster and Connacht. 

Some 2,187 residential buildings were under construction in Cork last month.

The report also found that Cork had the second-highest number of new residential address points added to GeoDirectory’s nationwide database in the twelve months to June 2021.

At 30.8%, the highest proportion of the new residential address points were located in Dublin, followed by Cork (10.8%) and then Kildare (9.7%).

VACANCY

Looking at vacancy rates, the rate in Cork last month was 4.1%, lower than the national average of 4.5%. 

There were 92,135 vacant residential properties in the country last month.

This figure remains unchanged from the corresponding period in 2020. 

Dublin, at 1.6%, had lowest vacancy rate in the country despite a slight year-on-year increase of 0.3 percentage points.

The number of residential property transactions fell in the twelve months to May 2021, down 6.5% on the corresponding figure in 2020.

In total, 39,526 residential property transactions took place, of which 18.1% were for new dwellings.

The average residential property price in Ireland across this time period was €306,641.

In Cork, the average property price was €279,287.

Commenting on the findings of the GeoView Residential Buildings Report, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory said the data shows that residential construction activity has "responded well" since Covid-19 restrictions for the sector were lifted in April. 

"There were over 5,000 more residential buildings under construction last month than there were in June 2020. "Additionally, the GeoDirectory database recorded over 25,000 new residential address points in the past twelve months," he said.

"This is still short of the levels of stock needed to ease demand, but the data trends suggest that things are moving in the right direction."