News

Residential construction numbers fall

Published On:  Mon, Jun 18th, 2007
Contributed By:  Runway Recruitment Ireland

The number of new home completions this year will plummet compared to last year to show a fall for the first time in 18 years, Davis Langdon PKS, a construction sector consultantancy said today.

The report predicted that completions this year will total 75,000-80,000 compared to the more than 90,000 completed last year.
It would be the first time since 1989 that the sector recorded a year on year decline.

"In 2006, housing constituted 68pc of new construction so any reduction will have an immediate impact on the total volume of construction. General construction in public buildings, schools, hospitals, offices and retail will continue to grow in 2007 at an expected rate of 3pc," he said.

He added that civil engineering, supported by the major investment in roads under the National Development Plan, will also grow strongly at 6pc.

"However, the growth in general construction and civil engineering will not be enough to compensate for the reduction in new housing, so we expect a 5pc reduction in the volume of new construction in 2007." The Davis Langdon PKS summer review of the industry also found that construction prices are not rising as fast as general inflation. "The Society of Chartered Surveyors Construction Cost Index recorded a 4pc increase between April 2006 and April 2007, while construction materials increased by 7pc," it said.

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