DUBLIN (Reuters) -The number of new homes built in Ireland increased 35% year-on-year in the second quarter to 9,214, a surprise boost that completed the strongest first half since a 2008 property crash, data showed on Thursday.
Ireland has struggled to house a rapidly growing population since the collapse of the construction industry in the wake of the crash, and the number of homes built last year fell 7% to just over 30,000.
Year-on-year growth of just 2% in the first three months of the year prompted
many analysts to downgrade their forecasts for this year. The central bank forecast last month that the government would fall well short of its targets over the next three years to rapidly increase supply towards 50,000 a year.
However the jump from April to June took the number of new dwellings completed in the typically seasonally weaker first half to 15,152, the Central Statistics Office data showed.
That was 9% above the same period in 2023 when a 15-year high of 32,500 homes were built for the year as a whole.
The government, which says handling the housing crisis is its top priority, announced plans in recent weeks to reduce minimum apartment sizes and modify rent controls in a bid to reverse last year's 24% fall in apartment building.
Apartment completions more than doubled year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025 to just over 3,000.
(Reporting by Graham Fahy Editing by Padraic Halpin and Mark Potter)
