Homebuilder Glenveagh is on track to deliver more than 2,900 homes this year, more than the company previously forecast.

A financial update from the company has also shown its average selling price rose 6.6 per cent year on year to €402,000 in the first half of the year, but the full-year average is expected to be €380,000.

Glenveagh, led by Stephen Garvey, said construction activity has “accelerated materially” during the first half of the year, which has led to the increased delivery forecast.

The stock market-listed homebuilder previously said it would deliver 2,750 homes this year, which would include 1,600 homes for the private market and 1,150 for the State.

The financial update said the company would now deliver more than 2,900 units this year, including 1,700 homes for homebuyers and 1,200 units for State-backed social and affordable housing projects.

The increased forecast has come following a 34 per cent increase in construction spend by Glenveagh, which led to work in progress rising from €346.8 million to €504.7 million.

“Ireland’s housing delivery system is beginning to move more decisively, supported by a strengthening policy backdrop,” Garvey said.

“Sustaining that momentum will require continued progress on zoning, servicing capacity and enabling infrastructure, and we will continue to engage constructively to help translate policy intent into homes on the ground.”

Glenveagh has also confirmed a decision to expand its current share buyback programme to €100 million, up from €50 million, which reflected the board’s confidence in the company’s secured delivery position and expectation it would have strong cash generation in the second half of the year.

“We expect the group will be highly cash generative in the second half, supporting further returns to shareholders, reflected in the Board’s decision to double our buyback to €100 million,” Garvey said.

Glenveagh’s latest results said it generated revenues of €239.7 million in the first half of the year, down from €341.6 million in the same period of last year.

The company’s homebuilding division, which delivers own-door homes for the private market, recorded a 71 per cent decline in revenue to €63.9 million, while turnover from selling homes to State bodies rose 43 per cent to €175.8 million. The firm’s gross margin fell from 19.5 per cent to 15.5 per cent.

While group revenue and profit margins fell, Glenveagh’s average sale price rose 6.6 per cent year on year to €402,000. It said the rise reflected a higher proportion of “non-standard homes on portions of sites acquired in late 2024 where planning was secured by previous owners”.

The company forecast its average selling price would be “approximately €380,000 in 2026, and beyond this, will normalise to a run-rate of approximately €350,000 per unit over the medium term”.

Last year, Glenveagh’s interim results for 2025 said its order book was approximately €1.4 billion. Glenveagh now has an order book of €1.8 billion of residential property, up 29 per cent year on year.

Glenveagh noted it has capacity to grow the order book further, with the company “in active discussions” to forward sell a further 1,000 units to State bodies.

Since the beginning of the war in Iran, Irish homebuilders have said they are monitoring any impacts of the conflict on building costs. Glenveagh said build cost inflation has remained in line with expectations, but did not disclose a figure.

It added more than 90 per cent of its costs for 2026 have been secured, and 55 per cent of costs in 2027 agreed.

In the past 12 months, Glenveagh has also increased its land bank from 19,000 to 21,000 units.

Part of this rise was linked to rezoning of the group’s strategic land holdings, which added approximately 600 units, and approximately 900 added due to “planning and design gains”. The company also spent €33 million on land to add approximately 1,100 units.

“The portfolio has been assembled at an average cost of approximately €27,000 per unit, less than 10 per cent of net development value,” the financial update said.

The results showed the firm’s net debt was €422.7 million in June, but has been forecast to fall by year end to “approximately €120 million as H2 completions convert work in progress into cash”.