Over 60 per cent of Dublin new build homes were sold in block sales last year, while almost half of all new build homes across the country were sold to the likes of housing bodies and funds.
A new report released on Friday claims that four out of every ten new homes sold last year across Ireland changed hands as part of a sale where multiple units were sold together.
The analysis from estate agents, DNG, found that there were 7.306 new units sold as part of “block sales.”
These buyers are typically non-household organisations, including the likes of investment funds, approved housing bodies, local authorities, charities, and other financial institutions.
This means that in 2023, just over 58 per cent of all new homes – some 9,201 units – were sold to individual private buyers, with the report sparking fears that ordinary buyers are being locked out of the market.
Meanwhile, according to DNG, in the capital, the percentage of new homes sold as part of block sales to the non-household sector was even higher – representing 61 per cent of all sales last year.
A total of 3,528 new homes, out of 5,752 new home sales in Dublin were sold this way, meaning that only 2,116 new homes were sold to individual buyers in the capital.
While the new housing market was the toughest for prospective private buyers in Dublin, Limerick private buyers are also being locked out of the housing market there – with 55 per cent of all new homes having been sold as part of block sales.
Ordinary buyers are also facing obstacles in Cork – where almost one in four of all new home sales were part of block sales last year (457 units). Meanwhile, in Galway, 27 percent of all new housing was sold as part of block sales.
Outside of Dublin, Kildare had the highest volume of new home sales in 2023, with almost three quarters of new homes sold to private individual buyers last year. Just over 1,600 homes in Kildare out of 2,164 new builds were sold to private buyers.
The real estate agent also claims that the number of new homes sold every year is being unreported by over 30 per cent. DNG claims that the Property Price Register did not report homes bought last year by the non-household sector.
Eric Nelligan, an Aontu Rep in Limerick, commenting on the report, said it had become “visible all over Limerick” that “most new houses and in some cases every single house in a new estate has been block purchased.
“In Limerick, only 176 of 429 went to private buyers,” he said, adding: “No wonder our children are moving to Australia.”