THE AVERAGE NATIONAL rent price has decreased for the first time in seven years, according to new statistics published by property website Daft.ie today.
Rents fell marginally, by 0.1%, in the final three months of 2019, according to the latest quarterly rental report. This is the first time since the middle of 2012 that rents have not risen quarter-on quarter.
The study also found that there are 10% more homes for rent on February 1st than a year previously. The average national rent is now €1,402, €659 per month higher than the low seen in late 2011.
However, prices in the capital have risen 3.5%. This has been the slowest rate of increase since 2008, Daft said.
In Dublin, Cork and Galway cities, rents rose between September and December, while outside the major cities, rents fell on average.
The Daft report found that rents in Dublin at the end of 2019 were 3.5% higher and in Cork and Galway were 5.5% higher than what they were at the end of 2018.
In Limerick and Waterford cities, rents were 3.9% and 4.3% higher respectively than a year ago. Outside the cities, rents were 4.7% higher in late 2019 than a year previously.
The average rents per region are as follows (percentage increase is calculated on a year-on-year basis):
Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft report, said there is no “quick fix” to the housing problem.
He said: “With the election of a new government, housing – and in particular the rental sector are likely to be key parts of the new government’s priorities. Despite the desire for a quick fix, such as rent freezes, no such quick fix exists.
“By worsening insider-outsider dynamics, rent freezes are likely to further harm those most affected by the shortage of accommodation. And, if somehow applied to newly-built rental homes, rent controls could prove calamitous for a country that desperately needs new rental homes but has very high construction costs.”
The full report can be read here.
Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Daft.ie publisher Distilled Media Group.
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