This article is from page 14 of the 2008-03-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
THE number of new homes expected to be completed in County Clare this year is expected to be halved. Statistics released by the Depart- ment of the Environment yesterday show further evidence of a downturn in the housing sector with the number of house starts down by almost half last year with the anticipated knock on in house completions this year in
the county.
According to the figures, the number of house commencements last year in Clare was 960 with the number of commencements in the fi- nal quarter to 239.
The 2007 total compares to the 1,801 house starts in Clare in 2006 – a drop of 46 per cent and it continues part of a downward trend.
In 2004, there were 2,370 house starts in Clare and this was followed
by 2,156 house starts in 2005.
The low number of house starts in Clare last year will have a knock- on effect on the number of house completions in Clare in 2008 as the building sector responds to the cur- rent oversupply in the market.
Another aspect of the current over- supply in the market is the large number of homes that were complet- ed in Clare last year.
Figures from the Department of the
Environment show that 2,286 homes were completed in Clare last year — the second highest figure ever.
The figure is 16 per cent down on the 2,727 houses built in 2006. Fig- ures for 2005 show that 2,174 homes were built; in 2004, 1,831 homes were built; in 2003, 1,679 homes were constructed.
Additional evidence of a slow-down in construction show that lOO homes were completed in Clare in January
of this year — down on the 122 total for January 2007.
Further highlighting the number of house starts slowing to a trickle, Homebond recorded only six house starts across Clare in December.
Homebond record an estimated of 75 per cent of new house starts across the country and the six starts in Clare in December is a drop of 83 per cent on the 36 houses starts in December 2006 in Clare.