Glut of homes built during bubble
Experts have claimed that too many houses were built during Ireland's property bubble
Developers built about 170,000 more homes than were needed during the property bubble, academics have claimed.
The latest study on empty housing has found a total of 345,000 homes - 17% of all housing - are lying vacant.
The expert review found that when holiday homes, houses no longer in use and standard levels of surplus housing were measured, there was still no demand for about half the country's empty homes.
University College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology also warned the state bad-bank Nama - designed to ease the banking crisis and ultimately reignite lending and the property market - could prolong the slump.
Lead author Dr Brendan Williams claimed prices builders pay for development land has to fall further, in turn knocking more off the value of houses.
"The identified vacancy levels have major consequences for the future prospects and valuations of development land," the UCD academic said.
"Valuations of development land based on the expected sale of completed developments will need to be revised severely downward to reflect their current use and limited development potential."
Dr Williams, of UCD's School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy, said buyers and sellers may be resisting further price cuts as the market deteriorates further.
House prices have fallen by more than a third since the peak but some rural areas and sectors have been hit harder.
"Suppliers and vendors were unwilling in the short term to adjust prices, but such shifts become inevitable," Dr Williams said.
Press Association
