Wexford Rentals & Property Management has read today that fewer than 5,400 properties were available to rent nationwide on November 1st, the lowest number since 2007, according to a quarterly report from property website Daft.ie. And there were fewer than 27,000 properties listed to rent in Dublin in the first nine months of this year, compared to more than 47,000 in the same period in 2011. The report also found rents have risen more than 11 per cent in the past 12 months, with average rent now at €933 a month.
Looking at the months of August, September and October, the report found rents are more expensive than the same time last year in every county, though Dublin’s annual inflation rate had slowed for the first time in five years. Prices have still risen in the capital by over 14 per cent compared to the last three months of 2013. Rents in Dublin’s neighbouring counties also continued to increase with Meath up 11 per cent, Wicklow up by 13 per cent and Kildare up by 14 per cent. Rents in Waterford rose 5 per cent, Limerick by 6 per cent, Galway 7 per cent and Cork by 8 per cent. And while rents across the country remain well below the peak in 2007 – on average by 20 per cent – in Dublin, the difference is less than 10 per cent.
Report author Ronan Lyons said the lack of available properties to rent was more concerning than the high rental rates, although the two phenomena are 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,” he said.
Fiona Gartland
