House building was 4.4% higher in the third quarter this year than it was in the same period in 2023, the Central Statistics Office has revealed. 

Financial advisor and analyst Karl Deeter told Newstalk Breakfast that housing production is getting “better and better” every year.

“About 250 housing starts are occurring every working week in 2024,” he said.

“Strangely enough, the completion figures are slightly lower than you'd expect them to be while housing production is up - which might sound weird.

“Basically, completions is when the house is effectively connected to the ESB - there's issues within the data that make it sometimes tricky to understand.

“I think what's going to happen is that in the fourth quarter, we'll see what we've seen every year for the last 10-years, where there's a sudden uptick in houses getting completed before year end."

"It is happening"

Mr Deeter said he believes Ireland’s housing number this year are “going to be quite strong” and will be “up around 40,000”.

“That's something that I think is really worth celebrating at a time where there's, you know, there's homelessness, there's housing compression, rising rents, rising prices - this is the way you get around those,” he said.

“Things might not happen as quick as people want it to, but it is happening, and that's something to celebrate.”

"Not any one thing"

Mr Deeter said things like advancements with building technology and falling interest rates are helping the house building situation - but it’s not “any one thing” that’s helping.

“I think that there's been some advancements with building technology, which is making construction happen a little bit quicker,” he said.

“I think things like the Help to Buy [and] the Shared Equity Government schemes are unlocking a lot of housing for first time buyers who are some of the most active in the market.

“I think interest rates coming down a little bit has helped the situation.

“I think that the entrance entry of new lenders who are lending to people who might otherwise have not been able to get loans in the kind of more traditional system, is helping them achieve home ownership.

“It's actually the fact that there's just this sprawling mass of innovations that are attacking the problem.”

"Not just Ireland"

Mr Deeter said the country will “always crack” housing problems in the long-term. 

“Traditionally, like if you look at housing cycles over a few 100-years, we always do crack it and then we make too much - and that causes its own problems,” he said.

“That's not just Ireland - that's almost every advanced economy.

"Massive supports

Mr Deeter said he believes Government schemes “bridge a gap”.

“I think what it does is it bridges a gap that gives house builders the confidence to know that they can achieve a price that will let them go on to the next project,” he said.

“If you look at it, there are massive supports there.

“So for people on average wages, as a couple, they can buy average homes - and I think that's the mix that you have to get.

“You're not looking to make sure every single person in the country becomes a homeowner.

“That might not be music to everybody's ears, I'm sorry about that, it's just reality.”

Mr Deeter said he is "not concerned" about if these schemes cause inflation as he just want to see "more people being able to achieve homeownership".

A housing development under construction, Carrigaline, County Cork. Image: David Creedon / Alamy Stock Photo