No slowdown in sight as rents are now 30% up on Celtic Tiger highs

Rents nationwide rose by 11.3 per cent in the year to September, with no slowdown in sight, as average rents were pushed to a new all-time high of €1,334 – some €304 more expensive than during the Celtic Tiger boom.

According to the Daft.ie survey for the three months to September, which is based on asking rents, the average monthly rent nationwide was more than €590 higher than the low seen in late 2011.

In Dublin, rents continue to advance in double-digit figures, up by 10.9 per cent in the year to September 2018. This means that rents in the capital are now 36 per cent, or more than €520 a month, higher than their previous peak a little over a decade ago.

And the rate of growth is even higher when you move outside Dublin. In Limerick city, rents were 20.3 per cent higher than a year ago, at €1,131, while in Waterford the increase was 19.7 per cent, to €955. Galway saw its rents increase by 16.1 per cent in the same period, to €1,226, while in Cork, rents rose by 13.7 per cent, to €1,301. Outside the five main cities, rents rose by an average of 10.6 per cent.

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The least expensive place to rent is Leitrim, with average rents of €577. The most expensive is south Co Dublin, at €2,156 a month.

Ronan Lyons, assistant professor of economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft report, said: "The latest figures, showing a further strong rise in rents around the country, may not be surprising. Nonetheless, the condition of the private rental market remains a cause for huge concern, with very strong demand not being met by supply. A comparison of the country's households and its dwellings reveals an acute shortage of apartments, not family homes. However, the recent increase in residential construction is being driven by estate houses, not apartment schemes. Dramatically increasing the construction of urban apartments, for both market and social housing sectors, must become the priority for policymakers in 2019."

The supply of rental properties also continues to tighten, with just 3,214 properties available to rent nationwide on November 1st, down by 4.5 per cent on the same figure a year ago and the lowest total for November on record (since 2006). However, there was an uptick in availability in Dublin, with figures up by 6.4 per cent.