Over 20,000 new houses and apartments were completed in the first three months of 2007, down 8.6 per cent compared to the 21,894 homes built during the same period a year ago.
That's according to new figures released by the Department of Environment today which are based on the number of new ESB connections.
However, according to the Minister for Housing Noel Ahern TD, direct comparisons could not be made against the first half of 2006 given that some of those dwellings had already been built in the previous year, but had not been connected by the ESB.
The latest data indicates that over 1,600 new homes have been completed each week since the start of the year,
"The housing market is still producing very significant levels of output, but I would expect some levelling off in the numbers to be delivered from now on," said Minister Ahern.
