According to the latest data from Ulster Bank’s Construction Purchasing Managers Index (CPMI), house building activity declined for the second month in a row in September.

The CPMI, is designed to track changes in total construction activity. The Index stood at 56.2 in September, down from 58.3 in August 2018. While construction activity has slowed compared to August, the rate of expansion in new orders accelerated. Organisations continued to increase their purchasing activity and staffing levels last month. The strongest increase in activity across the primary categories monitored by the index was on commercial projects, the first time this has been the case since June.

The rate of growth in housing projects remained marked, while civil engineering activity decreased modestly to mark its first fall in three months.

Despite this dip, the majority of the market are still very optimistic about the continued growth of the sector across Ireland.

Source- RTE- https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2018/1008/1001642-ulster-bank-construction-pmi/