However the figure represents no improvement on the second quarter of the year. On a seasonally adjusted basis, there was a fall of 4pc in new dwelling completions between Q2 and Q3, according to new Central Statistics Office data.
Other indexes have also indicated a slowdown in the construction sector over the last six months, and the latest completion figures mean the Government is likely to fall well short of its housing target for 2025.
Apartment completions in Q3 stood at 3,160, up 3pc on the same quarter of last year, according to the CSO. This also reflects only a slight uptick in a sector which developers have come to regard as uneconomic.
There were 4,551 scheme-dwelling completions in Q3, up only 1pc year on year.
“In the first nine months of 2025 there were 24,325 new dwelling completions, which was an increase of 13pc on the same period in 2024,” said Steven Conroy, a statistician with the CSO. “Apartment completions between January and September 2025 were up 30pc when compared with the same period in 2024.”
The Government has an official target of 41,000 units this year, although Housing Minister James Browne has conceded the aim is “not realistic”. It was set before last year’s general election, at a time when the then Government was predicting up to 40,000 houses would be built in 2024. The number turned out to be 30,300.
Several independent bodies, such as the Central Bank and the ESRI, are predicting that output this year will be somewhere between 32,000 and 34,000 units.
Welcoming the year-on-year increase for the first nine months of the year, Minister Browne said today that the figures represented a welcome sign of progress.
“While the data is encouraging, we will not be complacent. I am driving on to accelerate delivery to ensure even greater progress in the months ahead,” he said.
The Housing Minister has pulled a series of policy levers in a bid to improve construction output. Earlier this year he issued new design standards for apartments, reducing the minimum size allowed. They can now be as small as 32 sqm, and restrictions on the mix of apartment sizes in new developments have been relaxed.
These changes are currently being challenged in the courts.
In the recent Budget, there was a reduction in the rate of Vat on the sale of completed apartments, down from 13.5pc to 9pc. This will also be applied to purpose-built student accommodation.
Speaking in the Dail this week in relation to the Finance Bill, minister Paschal Donohoe said: “In order to maximise the impact of this measure on the supply of new apartments, I have asked my officials to examine the potential to broaden the scope of the 9pc rate to also include site and construction services provided for qualifying new apartment developments. This is with a view to bringing more apartments within the scope of the 9pc rate.”
Five of the eight regions saw a year-on-year rise in house completions in Q3. The region with the largest relative increase was the Mid-East – Louth, Meath, Kildare, and Wicklow – up 35pc.
The Local Electoral Area with most completions was Clondalkin at 640.
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