CONSTRUCTION:Less than 8,000 new homes will be built in the Republic this year, the Construction Industry Federation predicted yesterday.

Figures released by insurer, HomeBond, at the weekend, show that 1,931 new houses were completed in the first three months of the year, compared to 2,766 in the same period in 2011. Almost two out of three of them were "one-off" houses built to order.

Work began on 800 new homes during the three-month period, 42 per cent less than in the first quarter of 2011.

Hubert Fitzpatrick of CIF said the figures show that the housing market remains severely depressed. "We believe that only 7,500 to 8,000 housing units will be completed this year," he said. "That would amount to a drop in the region of 23 to 28 per cent from the 10,480 housing units completed during 2011."