The CSO today published a new report on Construction and Housing in Ireland. The report aims to present a comprehensive picture of the Irish construction industry, using statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office, other producers of construction statistics and administrative data sources.
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| Source: CSO |
Construction Output up 80% in five years
- In 2005, it is estimated that the value of output in the construction industry was almost 32 billion - i.e. 80% higher than the output figure of 17.6 billion in 2000.
- Ireland has the highest construction output per capita in Europe at approximately 7,600 in 2005. This is more than double the corresponding figure for the United Kingdom.
One eighth of workforce employed in construction
- In the second quarter of 2005, there were 242,000 people employed in the construction industry. Approximately 1 in 8 people (12.6%) employed in Ireland work in construction. This compares with an EU average of less than 8%.
- Of the 258,000 net increase in total persons at work between 2000 and 2005, over 76,000 (or 30%) were in the construction sector.
- It is estimated that there were over 25,000 non-Irish nationals working in the construction sector in the fourth quarter of 2005. They represented about 10% of the total number employed in construction. About 15,000 construction workers are from the former Accession States.
Housing represents two thirds of total building and construction
- Residential construction accounted for two thirds of total building and construction output in 2005.
- Over 86,000 dwellings units were completed in Ireland in 2005. This compares to less than 50,000 in 2000.
- New dwellings were completed at a rate of 21 units per 1,000 of population in 2005, adding over 5% to existing housing stock in Ireland. This is the highest rate of residential building in the EU.
100 billion Mortgage Debt
- The total value of mortgage debt increased from 33 billion in 2000 to almost 100 billion in 2005.
- The average size of a new mortgage was 102,000 in 2000 and 200,000 in 2005. In 2000, less than 5% of new mortgages were for more than 200,000 but by 2005 almost half (46.9%) of mortgages taken out exceeded this value.
- The average price of a new house in Ireland was 166,000 in 2000 and just over 272,000 in 2005. The average price of a new apartment increased from 206,000 in 2000 to over 293,000 in 2005. More than a third of all dwellings sold in 2005 cost in excess of 300,000.
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| Source: CSO |
Stamp Duty exceeds 2 billion
- Stamp duty on property transactions amounted to 2 billion in 2005, a three fold increase in the three years since 2002. Three quarters of all revenue raised from stamp duty in 2005 related to property transactions.
Report
SEE ALSO: Irish housing boom may boost public finances to 9bn this year; Government collects average of 100,000 in taxes from the cost of every new housing unit built in State
State of Chassis: Artificial restriction on land supply puts Ireland and UK at bottom of property league in Developed World; Irish urbanisation at 4% is among Europe's lowest
