The cost of renting is rising in every city except Dublin.
Latest data from Daft.ie shows rents in the capital fell by 3% to below €2,000 a month.
However, increases of up to 5.6% were recorded in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, with a 17% drop in the number of lettings advertised outside the capital.
Average rents, and year-on-year change, 2020Q4
Dublin: €1,984, down 3.3% year-on-year
Cork city: €1,452, up 4.8%%
Galway city: €1,379, up 4.6%
Limerick city: €1,265, up 3.9%
Waterford city: €1,067, up 5.6%
Rest of the country: €1,048, up 5.6%
The report's author, Professor Ronan Lyons of Trinity College, says the market for rental property is still very broken.
“Often people query whether the basics of supply and demand apply to the housing market."
"These latest figures should remove any lingering doubts about the importance of supply in lower rents."
"Outside Dublin, Covid-19 has led to a further worsening of supply conditions in the rental market, with the number of homes coming on each month down 17% on already low levels."
"While demand for rental homes outside the capital has fallen – with the rise in unemployment – it has not fallen as much as supply, pushing rents further upwards."
"In Dublin, Covid-19 has had the opposite effect, with the number of homes being advertised to rent up 64% on February 1st, compared to a year previously."
"With the increase in homes being advertised, active demand for homes to rent has also soared, up 40% compared to pre-pandemic."
"But the greater liquidity of the market has helped bring rents down slightly."
"Nonetheless, rents in the capital – and in Ireland’s other main cities – remain at twice their level a decade ago."
"The underscores the importance of ensuring the construction of tens of thousands of new rental homes over coming years, to help bring rents back down to affordable levels.”
