The number of new homes being granted planning permission in Clare is now above pre-pandemic levels.
It comes as two separate reports from MyHome.ie and Daft.ie found that the cost of a four-bed semi has risen by almost 17% over the past year, and a three-bed semi has increased by almost 19% in the same period.
New CSO figures show 118 houses have been given the green light in this county in the first quarter of the year.
A slowdown of planning permissions in this county began before the onset of COVID-19, with the pandemic elongating and highlighting that drop even further.
The 118 houses being given the go ahead in Clare in the first three months of 2021 is slightly higher than the same period in 2019, and more than three times greater than the first quarter of 2020.
50 of them were one off homes, which is again around pre-pandemic levels, with the 68 multi development approvals again greater than at the same time during previous years.
The final three months of the year are traditionally the most fruitful time for planning permissions here to be granted – the 176 that were given the green light during October, November and December 2020 were nearly half of all such permissions given last year.
Just 11 flats and apartments were given permission here in the first quarter of 2021 – compared to 98 throughout all of 2020.
The number of new homes granted planning permission in this county has a direct impact on recent price hikes, with a shortage in the supply cited as a factor in rising cost.
The median asking price for a property in Clare, now stands at €199,000.
