THE NATION’S STOCK of available rental properties has reached its lowest point since at least the start of 2006, according to the latest figures from Daft.ie.
And that severe lack of available homes for renters is continuing to drive up prices, further stretching household budgets across the country.
The latest Daft rental report, released today, showed there were only 4,340 homes listed for rent at the start of May – the smallest number since the property site started pulling together figures almost a decade ago.
That compares to about 7,200, or 66% more, available at the same time last year and a peak of almost 24,000 after the property bubble burst in mid-2009.
The rental market squeeze has pushed up prices 8.2% nationwide for the past year to an average of €960 a month in the most-recent quarter.
The biggest rises over the past 12 months have come in the commuter counties around Dublin as people get pushed out of the capital, where the average rent now stands at €1358 per month.
Prices have gone up in every county in the country compared to a year ago. This map shows the changes and the new average rents:
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Deceptive slow-down
While the pace of rent rises has started to ease from the double-digit increases of last year, the report’s author, economist Ronan Lyons, told TheJournal.ie that slow-down was “a bit deceptive” because of what was happening in and around the capital.
The average rent in Dublin went up only €8 per month over the last quarter for an annualised increase of 8.2%, compared to nearly double that figure in surrounding areas.
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“That easing off of inflation (in Dublin) drags down the national figure – elsewhere in the country though, particularly in the commuter counties, inflation in rents has actually picked up,” Lyons said.
At some point you can’t devote more and more of your income to paying for rent because you have other things you have to pay for so what we will see is people paying through (travel) time.”
He said while a decade ago people were buying properties in commuter counties with a view to moving to Dublin in the future, many were now only able to rent in the same regions.
The underlying reason for the rent rises in and around the capital was the chronic lack of new building, which Lyons said came back to the high cost of construction.
And other cities
In the other cities, rents were also rising but at more manageable rates. Cork was the next most-expensive major centre in which to rent a home with an average price of €911.
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Waterford remained the cheapest city with an average price of €634 – less than half the average rate in Dublin.
You can hear more about Lyons’ findings on and predictions for the rental market in this video:
Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.
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