Rents increase by 7% in year to the end of June

Monthly rents across the State increased by 7 per cent in the year to the end of June, with rents for apartments rising faster than for houses.

The latest statistics from the Private Residential Tenancies Board, published this morning, show rents for houses in the second three months of this year were 6.4 per cent higher than in the same quarter last year, while apartment rents were 7.6 per cent higher than in Q2 of 2014.

Growth was greater in Dublin, with rents up 9.2 per cent. House rents were up by 8.8 per cent in the capital and apartment rents were up by 9.4 per cent.

Monthly rent

In Dublin, the average monthly rent for a house in the period was €1,387 and €1,260 for an apartment, compared with €1,275 for a house and €1,152 for an apartment a year previously.

Outside Dublin the market is also rising but at a more subdued pace, with rents up 5.8 per cent in the 12 months to the end the second quarter this year compared with the 12 months to the same period last year.

Rents for houses outside of Dublin increased 5.8 per cent, from €656 to €695 in the year, and for apartments by 5.9 per cent, from €623 to €660 per month. Looking at the quarter-on-quarter picture for 2015, nationally the rate of increase in monthly rent levels was 2.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year compared with the first quarter.

This compares to a national quarterly growth rate of 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, indicating rents continue to grow faster than the economy.

Dublin rents are now just 3.5 per cent lower than the 2007 peak, while outside Dublin they remain 18 per cent lower than their peak levels.