Some 1,212 new housing units were commenced in the first four months of 2012, a decline of 31 per cent on the same period last year, new figures from the Construction Industry Federation show.

During the first four months of 2011, work commenced on 1751 new units. Of the new units started this year, 84 per cent or 1022 were singe units.

The level of new house completions for the first five months of 2012 is also significantly down according to the figures.

Between January and May of this year 3,283 housing units were completed. This compares to 4,443 during the same period in 2011, which is a drop of 1,160 units or 26 per cent.

A total of 10,480 housing units were completed during 2011. Less than 8000 units will be completed this year the CIF has predicted.