The Daft Rental Price Report 2019 Q4 revealed that rent fell by 0.1% in the final quarter of 2019. This is the first time since 2012 that rents have dropped quarter to quarter.

The annual rate of inflation in rents during 2019 was 4.1%, which is the lowest since 2012. Nationwide, the average monthly rent stood at €1,402 in the final three months of 2019. That is €659 more per month than the lowest since late 2011.

Across urban and rural parts of the market late 2019 trends differ. In cities in Dublin, Cork and Galway rents rose from the months of September to December but outside these three major cities, on average rents fell. Compared to end-2018 rents at the end of 2019 were 3.5% higher in Dublin, 5.5% higher in Cork and 5.6% higher in Galway. Rents were 4.3% and 3.9 higher than a year ago in cities in Waterford and Limerick respectively. Outside the cities rent were 4.7% higher towards the end of 2019 than the year before.

Nationwide the number of homes for rent keeps rising. By February 1, across the whole country, the amount of properties available to rent was 3,543. This is an increase of 10% from February 1 2018 when 3,216 properties were available to rent. This increase may be seen as good but the amount of homes available to rent on the market is still 80% down from the time it peaked in 2009.

An economist at Trinity College Dublin and the author Daft Report, Ronan Lyons, commented on the report by saying “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 average rent change from year to year has been:

  • Up 3.5% to €2,052 in Dublin
  • Up 5.5% to €1,386 in Cork
  • Up 5.6% to €1,309 in Galway
  • Up 3.9% to €1,217 in Limerick
  • Up 4.3% to €1,010 in Waterford
  • Up 4.6% to €993 in the rest of the country