New house building reached a record level in 1998, according to the Department of the Environment and Local Government.

As many as 42,349 homes were completed during the year, up 9 per cent on 1997, according to the Housing Statistics Bulletin.

During the period total loans approved by various lending agencies amounted to £4.5 billion (#5.7 billion), a 28 per cent increase while loan payments amounted to £3.6 billion, also up 28 per cent. The number of loans paid was 61,407, an increase of 6 per cent on 1997.

Just over 34 per cent of the completions were of semi-detached homes, followed by detached homes at 23 per cent and flats and apartments at almost 22 per cent. Bungalows made up 17.5 per cent of the total with terraced homes at 3.5 per cent.

Data on prices has already been released with the recent second Bacon report. It showed that the average price of a second hand home in Dublin at the end of the year was £148,745, up 0.8 per cent from the previous three months. This compares with an average £116,403 across the State.

New house prices were up 4.6 per cent in Dublin to £132,941 in the last three months of 1998, compared with an average of £106,514 across the State.

Mr Robert Molloy, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, said houses are being built at twice the level of 1993 and a rate which in relation to the population is the highest in Europe.