Fewer than 8,000 houses and apartments have been completed so far this year.

The CSO has released new data today for the second quarter of 2018.

The new stats from the CSO show that 4,419 houses and apartments were completed between April and June this year - an increase of 34% on the same period last year.

63% were in estates, 26% were houses on their own and 11% were apartments.

Over three quarters were in urban areas, with Dublin and the Mid-East making up 60% - while Dublin 15 was the area with the most completions.

However despite the increase - there have been just 7,909 dwellings completed in the first half of the year even though housing experts estimate that we need to build between 20,000 and 30,000 each year.

There have been previous concerns that measuring completions on the basis of new ESB connections was leading to inflated figures but the CSO says it's adjusted for this by using additional information.

- Digital Desk