20 August 2025
House Prices Keep Climbing, New Housing Plan Must Break With The Past – IPAV
Commenting on the latest CSO Residential Property Price Index for June published today showing a further 7.8% increase IPAV, the Institute of Professional Auctioneers & Valuers, said continuing house price increases of this magnitude are “unhealthy but understandable in the context of the paucity of supply.”
Genevieve McGuirk, IPAV’s Chief Executive said, in today’s figures just 937 of the 4,029 homes bought were new builds.
“That points to the size of the problem, leading many commentators to believe that the Government target of reaching 41,000 new homes this year will not be met,” she said
And she said the “eagerly anticipated” new housing plan from Government, must deliver in a way that no previous initiative has.
“It must be comprehensive, and apart from the challenges that are already well documented, particularly around planning and infrastructure, it must recognise the needs of builders and developers, especially smaller builders for whom the cost of State finance has been prohibitive.”
She said SME builders account for just 10-15% of total housing output, down from nearly 40% pre-2008. The €750 million taxpayer HBFI loan fund, set up some years ago to support SME builders, actually ended up primarily with large firms.
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