Rents rose by more than 7% in the second quarter of the year – report

By Cate McCurry, PA

Rents rose by an average of more than 7 per cent in the second quarter of the year, compared to last year, according to the latest rental report by Daft.ie.

The report also shows that market rents rose by an average of 2 per cent in the second quarter of the year, compared to the first few months.

This marks the 14th consecutive quarter in which rents nationwide have increased and the 45th time in the last 48 quarters.

The average open-market rent nationwide in the second quarter of the year was 41,922 per month, up 7.3 per cent year-on-year and 41 per cent higher than before the outbreak of Covid-19.

Across the 54 markets covered in each https://t.co/F1oZ1MzHZs Rental Report, market rents were over 7% higher on average in the second quarter of 2024
than a year previously.

For more visit 👉 https://t.co/Au8xcKosZf pic.twitter.com/yavzjqBnav

— Daft.ie (@daftmedia) August 26, 2024

Inflation in market rents remains significantly lower in Dublin than elsewhere in the country.

In the capital, rents in the second quarter of the year were 3.5 per cent higher than a year earlier, while elsewhere in the country, they were on average 10.6 per cent higher.

Market rents rose particularly sharply in Limerick City, up 21 per cent year-on-year, but the three other cities also saw double-digit increases, ranging from 13 per cent in Galway to 10 per cent in Waterford.

Outside the cities, the rate of increase was similar, on average, between 9.3 per cent in Munster and 10.5 per cent in Connacht-Ulster.

The report shows that as has consistently been the case in recent years, availability on the rental market remains extremely tight.

On August 1st, there were just over 2,200 homes available to rent across the country, effectively unchanged on the same date a year previously and half the 2015 to 2019 average of 4,400.

Ronan Lyons, associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie report, said: “Between mid-2022 and mid-2023, a slow-down in inflation in open-market rents occurred, driven by Dublin and in particular by the construction of significant numbers of new rental homes in the Dublin area.

“However, as seen by very rates of inflation in market rents in the other cities, this was limited to the capital, where new supply was concentrated.

“This most recent reports suggests that, even in Dublin, improvement in the availability of rental homes is stalling.

“Without new rental supply, it is likely that future pressure on rents will be upward, further straining affordability for those on regular incomes.

“It remains incumbent on policymakers to first develop a thorough understanding of rental supply dynamics and second devise detailed plan on dramatically increasing rental supply, in all major rental markets, over the coming years.”

Dublin: €2,427, up 3.5 per cent

Cork city: €2,005, up 11.9 per cent

Limerick city: €2,107, up 21.2 per cent

Galway city: €2,114, up 13.3 per cent

Waterford city: €1,616, up 9.9 per cent

Rest of the country: €1,573, up 9.9 per cent