Cairn Homes, the Dublin-listed home builder, has warned that the ongoing “geopolitical volatility” in the Middle East has pushed Irish construction costs up by some 2.5 per cent over the past 12 months but has yet to affect consumer sentiment in the Republic.
However, the company said it does not expect a “material impact” from the US-Israeli war with Iran on its outlook for the year and reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance of between €1.05 billion and €1.08 billion.
In a statement released in advance of its annual general meeting today, Cairn said its closed forward order book has increased by 400 homes, around 20 per cent, over the past eight weeks and now stands at around 3,850 units.
“We expect this growth to continue, with further spring launches planned in the coming weeks (primarily targeted at our first-time buyer customers) and a strong pipeline of apartments on large mixed tenure schemes for our State partners and private buyers supported by the impactful Croí Cónaithe Scheme,” Cairn said.
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Unveiled last year, the €450 million Government scheme is aimed at supporting the construction of 5,000 new apartments for owner-occupiers.
However, Cairn said that geopolitical volatility has impacted build cost inflation, which it said is now running at around 2.5 per cent.
“We will remain alert to the conflict in the Middle East and any further inflationary pressures that may result as the year progresses, however, as things stand today, we do not expect there to be a material impact on our full year outlook,” the home builder said.
The Department of Finance said this week that building materials prices are rising at their highest rate since October 2024.
In a statistical release published earlier this week, the Department outlined that, during February, the wholesale price of construction materials jumped by 1.8 per cent. This compares to an increase of 1.5 per cent in January.
The ESRI also warned in March that recent spikes in energy prices could act to put “downward pressure” on housing output this year.
Meanwhile, Cairn said it remains poised to deliver “significant growth” in 2026, delivering around 6,000 homes by the end of 2027.
The group reiterated its revenue guidance of between €1.05 billion and €1.08 billion and reiterated its expectation of delivering operating profits of between €180 million and €185 million.
