Just 8,488 new homes were built last year - that's a drop of almost 20% on the previous year and the Construction Industry Federation says the number will keep on falling.
Compare that with a peak of 93,000 homes being built in 2006 - and the extent of the fall becomes clear.
According to the latest CIF Housing Statistics Bulletin, the largest number of house completions during 2012 were in Dublin, Cork and Galway respectively.
Advertisement
The group says it's concerned about the impact of six years of decline on the country's housing stock.
The ESRI estimates that the country needs between 15,000 and 20,000 new homes to be built each year to keep up with demand.
