Average rents hit new high and now cost €1,403 per month

Rents across the State climbed by an average of 5.2 per cent in the year to the end of September and while the rate of increase has continued to slow, average rents paid are still at an all-time high, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Renters in Dublin can expect to pay in excess of €24,000 a year, while someone looking for a home in Cork will need to spend more than €16,000 over the next 12 months.

The latest quarterly rental report from property website daft.ie puts the average monthly rent paid across the State at €1,403 with spikes once again recorded in major urban centres.

It is the 14th consecutive quarter of rents reaching record highs and the average listed rent on the website is now €373 a month higher than the boom-time peak recorded in 2008 and almost €660 higher than the low recorded in late 2011.

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Dublin

In Dublin, the rate of increase is said to be 3.9 per cent, the slowest increase recorded since mid-2012. The average monthly rent in Dublin was €2,044. Inflation has also slowed elsewhere in Leinster where rents were 4.3 per cent higher than a year ago, down from 10 per cent or more between 2014 and 2018.

Similarly, in other major urban centres, rents have risen by between 5.5 per cent and 6 per cent year-on-year.

In Cork, average rents were €1,372 while the cost of renting a home in Galway was said to be €1,299 and €1,219 in Limerick.

Elsewhere in the country, rents continue to rise at faster rates, with increases of 10.1 per cent in Munster and 8.2 per cent in Connacht-Ulster.

The number of homes available to rent has climbed by 10 per cent over the last year although that rate of increase has come off record lows. There were 3,500 rental homes covering the whole country on the daft.ie site at the end of September.

"Over the last decade, Ireland's rental market has experienced a persistent and worsening shortage," said the report's author, Trinity College economist Ronan Lyons. "Only in recent months have signs emerged of any improvement in this situation."

He said while the report had found both “improved availability and lower inflation”, rents were still climbing “from a base where they are already high compared to wages”.

He pointed out there was “no quick-fix regulatory solution for the sector”. Resolving long-standing housing issues would “involve the construction of tens of thousands of new rental homes every year for the foreseeable future”.