Property price spike across country
Almost 2,000 new residential address were added in Cork in 2021 with a further 2,370 under construction towards the end of last year.
The figures come from the latest GeoDirectory Residential Buildings Report which also found that the residential vacancy rate in Cork was 4.1 per cent in Q4 2021, lower than the national average of 4.4 per cent.
According to the report, the average residential property price in Cork was €288,873 in the twelve months to October 2021, while Kinsale was the town with the highest average price in the county at €426,087.
In total, 18,047 new address points were recorded in Ireland in 2021, with over a quarter located in Dublin, representing a year-on-year decrease of 26 per cent in the capital.
Following the temporary closure of construction sites in early 2021 due to Covid-19 public health measures, residential construction activity rallied strongly in the second half of 2021 and in Q4, 19,495 residential buildings were under construction across the nation, an increase of 16.5 per cent on the corresponding figure in Q4 2020.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Dara Keogh, CEO of GeoDirectory said: “Covid-19 has proved to be a substantial speed-bump for the delivery of housing supply in Ireland. The knock-on impact of the closure of construction sites in early 2021 can be seen in the relatively low number of new address points added to the GeoDirectory database, which was down 17.4 per cent on the previous year.”
Annette Hughes, Director, EY Economic Advisory added: “The level of housing supply coming onto the market in 2021 was well short of what was needed to meet demand. While the data around residential construction activity in the latter half of 2021 is extremely encouraging, there is still exceptionally high levels of demand in the housing market.”
The average residential property price in the 12 months leading to October has increased in every county in Ireland with the average national house price up by 9.4 per cent on the equivalent 2020 figure. Dublin remained the most expensive location to buy a house in Ireland, with an average price of €496,652. Neighbouring counties Wicklow (€428,493) and Kildare (€338,874) were the only other counties with residential property prices higher than the national average. The lowest average house price in the 12 months to October 2021 was recorded in Longford at €142,298.
A total of 1,448 derelict residential units were located in Cork in December 2021.
In December 2021, there were 22,096 derelict residential units across the country, representing a 7.3 per cent drop in the number of units since December 2016. The bulk of derelict address points in December 2021 were located along the west coast of Ireland, with the highest percentage share of the national total found in Mayo (13.2 per cent), followed by Donegal (12 per cent) and Galway (8.8 per cent). 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. The figures in its latest report were recorded through a combination of the An Post network of 5,600 delivery staff working with OSi.