Average rents reach all-time high of €1,304 per month

Average rent across the Republic reached yet another peak of €1,304, more than €560 higher than the trough in 2011 and more than 26 per cent higher than the high point during the Celtic Tiger.

Having set a new all-time high for the last nine consecutive quarters, rents for properties advertised on Daft.ie grew by an average of 12.4 per cent in the year to June, outpacing growth in residential property prices as the stock on the market remains the lowest on record.

According to the quarterly rental report from the property website, prices across the State are €274 per month higher than the 2008 peak.

In Dublin, however, rents are now 34 per cent, or almost €500 a month, higher than the previous high point a decade ago. The capital also has the highest average rents in the country of €1,936 with rental growth running at 13.4 per cent in the year to June.

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And while the change in rent prices over the course of the past year are high in Dublin, Limerick recorded growth of 20.7 per cent, Waterford had 19.3 per cent and Galway reported growth of 15.9 per cent.

Trinity College Dublin economist and author of the report, Ronan Lyons, noted the impact of slowing inflation in property sales prices, and said there was "no counterpart in the rental sector".

“As before, with such a mismatch between supply and demand, policy must focus on dramatically increasing the construction of urban apartments, for both market and social housing needs,” he said.

Availability

On August 1st, there were 3,070 properties available to rent across the Republic, a 4.8 per cent increase on the same figure a year ago but, aside from August 2017, the total availability is the lowest on record going back to 2006. However, the figures show a glimmer of positivity in that the increase in availability in August was the first in nine years.

Daft.ie's snapshot of yields – the ratio of annual rents to the price of a property – show Ireland as a market in which landlord's can attain significant returns. However, with property price inflation still running quite high, yields in a number of areas in Dublin have fallen and remained static in others.

Landlords in Dublin 10 can achieve a return of 11.6 per cent, while the area with the lowest yield was Dublin 6 at 6 per cent for a one-bedroom apartment.

The most expensive property to rent across the State was Dublin 2, where a five-bedroom house will cost on average €3,496 per month. Donegal had the cheapest rent for the same type of property, running at €718 per month on average.

In terms of average rental values across all property types, Dublin’s South City was the most expensive with rents of €2,058. Co Leitrim was the place where the cheapest rental prices could be achieved with an average of €557 per month.

Cheaper

The figures again showed that in most cases it is cheaper to obtain a mortgage than to rent. For example, a mortgage on a two-bed house in Cork City will cost between €635 and €800 per month compared to €1,067 to rent.

In the case of a four-bedroom house in south Co Dublin, however, it is slightly cheaper to rent, with an average of €2,363 while a mortgage can be obtained for between €3,452 and €4,349.

The trend across every region in Ireland was one of increasing prices, with single and double bed rentals becoming more expensive across every county. The most muted rise was of single beds in Dublin city centre, where prices increased 0.3 per cent. Prices for single beds in Limerick City Centre, meanwhile, accelerated 18 per cent to an average of €354 per month.