The number of new homes in Ireland fell by a fifth in the last year.
That's according to a report commissioned by GeoDirectory, which analyses the price and sale of property across all 26 counties.
The report found that the number of new residential address points added to their database nationally in 2021 fell by 17.4% compared to the previous year.
It also discovered over 110,000 vacant and derelict residential properties need to be put back into the housing market.
GeoDirectory says Carlow, Kilkenny, and Tipperary all rank below the state average when it comes to new homes being built.
Carlow saw the third least amount of new residential properties added in 2021, with just 148 new addresses added to the GeoDirectory, marking a 55% drop on last year.
However, it was the county with the smallest amount of derelict sites, with just 1.1% of houses in the county in a neglected condition.
870 new addresses are currently being constructed in Wexford in 2021, making it the sixth highest on the list, with Waterford not too far behind on 599.
Those two also rank highest on the list of new commencements, despite holding the same vacancy rates as Carlow and Kilkenny, far lower down on the priority list for new homes.
The company says that the 90,000 vacant and 22,000 derelict residential properties nationwide should be investigated to see if they can be returned to the housing stock.
