A new report from Daft.ie has revealed that market rents rose by an average of 1.7% in the third quarter of 2024, marking the fifteenth consecutive quarter in which rents nationwide have increased.
The average open-market rent nationwide in the third quarter of the year was €1,955 per month, up 7.2% year-on-year and 43% higher than before the COVID19 pandemic.
Inflation in market rents in Dublin has accelerated in recent months, bringing it closer to rates seen elsewhere in the country.
In the capital, rents in the third quarter of the year were 5.2% higher than a year earlier, twice the rate of inflation seen at the end of 2023.
Elsewhere in the country, the rate of inflation is now 8.9% (down from 12.3%).
Market rents continue to rise sharply in Limerick City (up 19% year-on-year) while both Cork and Galway cities saw increases of just over 10%. Rents in Waterford city were up 5.8% year-on-year and outside the cities, rents increased 8.3%.
After 18 months of improving availability, the number of homes available to rent on the open market is falling.
On November 1st, there were just over 2,400 homes available to rent across the country, down 14% on the same date a year previously and well below the 2015-2019 average of almost 4,400.
Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said:
“This latest Rental Report confirms the signals that emerged three months ago that upward pressure is building once more in Dublin. During 2023, as Dublin experience a significant pipeline of new rental homes, it enjoyed very little inflation in rents, as supply and demand were largely in balance.
"However, the upswing in construction of rental homes in Dublin is over. As the rate of building of rental homes continues to fall, Dublin is likely to resemble the rest of the country, where availability has been incredibly tight over the last three years, leading to dramatic increases in open-market rents.
"When thinking about boosting housing supply, owner-occupied homes and social housing have dominated policymaker attention over the last few years.
"The new government will have to address the lack of supply of private rental housing early in its term, if it is to bring about a change in conditions similar to what Dublin enjoyed in 2023 but across all rental markets.”
Average market rents, and year-on-year change, 2024 Q3
Labour’s General Election candidate in Dublin South Central Cllr Darragh Moriarty commented on the latest findings:
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been more focused on spin and bluster in the rental sector, rather than addressing the issues at the core of the crisis. They won’t take the decisive action needed to back renters and be on their side because they are the parties of landlords.
“Their scaremongering about landlords leaving the market is simply not borne out by facts. The number of registered private landlords increased by 6.5% from June 2023 to March 2024.
“Renters in Ireland are still at the whim of landlords. There has been no tangible strengthening of renters' rights since the general election four years ago. No-fault evictions are still taking place, and while inspections of rental properties have increased, enforcement is practically non-existent.”
Source: Daft.ie
