RENT IN DUBLIN is up by 16.6% this year, a report carried out by property website Daft.ie has found.
The company’s Rental Report for the third quarter of 2014 found that average rent in the capital rose to €1,372 per month.
Demand is still outstripping supply, with less than 27,000 properties available to rent in Dublin in the first nine months of this year, compared to over 47,000 in the same period in 2011.
Nationally, rent increased by over 11% in the space of 12 months with the national average rent now €933 compared to €842 a year previously.
In the other city centres, rents continue to climb. Waterford experienced an annual rise of 5%, Limerick 6%, Galway 7% and Cork 8%. Most of Dublin’s neighbouring counties also continue to see double digit inflation with Meath witnessing growth of 11%, Wicklow 13% and Kildare 14%.
The number of properties available to rent has continued to plummet. On 1 November, there were fewer than 5,400 properties to rent nationwide, the lowest figure since May 2007.
Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, economist at TCD and author of the Daft Report, said: “In many ways, the lack of available properties to rent is more concerning than the high rental rates, although clearly the two phenomena are inextricably linked.”
The only silver lining is the fact that this quarter was the first time in five years that rent inflation in the capital eased somewhat. However, even if an easing in Dublin inflation continues and stops the affordability crisis from worsening, it does nothing to change the availability crisis.
Year-on-year change in rents in major cities during the third quarter of 2014:
Rents continued to rise throughout the country between August and October, according to the figures published in the report. Over the last two years, the average rent nationwide has risen by almost €150, from €790 a month to €933.
That national trend is being driven by Dublin, where rents are up an average of €300 a month since 2012.
Lyons noted that the latest figures show that rental inflation outside the cities is above what might be considered a healthy rate, in line with the rest of the economy.
While prices in the rest of the economy were roughly flat in the year to October, rent inflation stayed above 10%. A small easing in Dublin inflation – from 15.6% to 14.5% – was offset by an increase in inflation outside of the capital, up from 5.7% to 6.6%.
In Dublin, rents are now almost 30% above their lowest point in 2012 and less than 10% below their 2007 peaks.
Lyons said that this is “very damaging for Dublin’s competitiveness as a location for foreign direct investment”.
“The goal of housing policy should be to ensure that, regardless of whether it’s to rent or to buy, rural or urban, housing is abundant and affordable,” he added.
Journal Media Ltd has shareholders – Brian and Eamonn Fallon – in common with Distilled Media Group.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say