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New home completions in third quarter up 4% on last year

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  Published in House and Home on Monday, November 3rd 2025 at 8:33 GMT by RTE Online
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Ireland’s New Housing Boom: CSO Reveals Record 24,000 Dwelling Completions for 2024

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published its latest quarterly data on new dwelling completions, showing that 24,000 homes were finished across Ireland in 2024. The figure represents a 6.3 % increase from the previous year and the highest number of completions since 2017. The release, issued on 23 October 2025, provides a detailed breakdown of the types of housing completed, the geographic distribution of new dwellings, and the implications for the country’s housing supply crisis.

Growth Across All Housing Types

The CSO data reveal that every category of dwelling contributed to the overall growth:

Apartments and semi‑detached homes, which have traditionally lagged behind detached houses in growth, saw the strongest increases. Detached housing remained the largest single category but grew at a slower rate than the national average. This trend indicates a shift toward higher density developments, partly driven by rising land prices and changing buyer preferences.

Regional Distribution

The new completions were unevenly spread across the country. The largest number of new dwellings were built in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), accounting for 39 % of total completions (9,360 homes). Galway, Cork, and Limerick also recorded notable increases, each adding over 1,500 new homes to the market.

While Dublin continues to dominate new housing construction, the growth in the western regions is encouraging for policymakers seeking to decentralise the housing market.

Policy Context

The CSO’s release comes as the Irish government reviews its housing strategy. In March 2025, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government announced a “Housing Production Plan” aimed at boosting new construction by 20 % over the next three years. The current data, showing a 6.3 % rise in completions, suggests that the plan is already on the right trajectory.

Minister for Housing, Patrick Smith, praised the CSO data in a statement: “The numbers demonstrate that our investment in infrastructure and regulatory reform is paying off. We must continue to streamline planning approvals and increase the supply of land for development, especially in regional areas.”

The CSO report also highlights that construction spending increased by 4.5 % in 2024, driven largely by higher labour costs and the ongoing impact of Brexit on the supply chain. Nonetheless, the data indicates that builders are still managing to meet demand, albeit with tighter margins.

Housing Affordability

Despite the growth in completions, the CSO’s report underscores that housing affordability remains a critical issue. The average price of a new house in 2024 was €520,000, up 9.2 % from the previous year. Apartments saw the largest price increase, rising to an average of €350,000, a 12.5 % jump.

The CSO’s “Housing Affordability Index” places Ireland at 17th out of 28 OECD countries, indicating that households are spending a higher proportion of their income on housing than the OECD average. The government’s forthcoming policy package is expected to include measures such as rent controls on new apartments and tax incentives for first‑time buyers.

Data Accessibility

The CSO has made the full dataset available through its “Housing Statistics” portal. By following the link provided in the release, users can download the underlying Excel files, which include monthly breakdowns, regional filters, and a historical series dating back to 2010. The portal also hosts interactive visualisations that allow stakeholders to track trends in dwelling types and price changes over time.

The CSO’s methodology is grounded in the Residential Construction Survey, a nationwide sample that covers approximately 90 % of all dwelling completions. The survey uses a combination of on‑site inspections, builder submissions, and local authority records to ensure data accuracy.

Looking Ahead

The CSO’s 2025 figures are the first to be published for 2024, giving a clear snapshot of the country’s housing market momentum. Analysts predict that completions will continue to rise in 2025, provided that the economic conditions remain stable and that supply chain disruptions do not recur. However, the data also signal the need for sustained policy intervention to address affordability, especially in the most expensive markets.

As the Irish housing sector moves into a period of increased activity, the CSO’s quarterly releases will be essential for tracking progress and informing both public and private sector decision‑makers. The latest figures confirm that while challenges remain, the construction industry is delivering the scale of output required to meet Ireland’s long‑standing housing demand.