Rents have increased by 11.7% in just one year.
The cost of rent continues to skyrocket in Ireland, as prices now stand at 50% higher than at the peak of the Celtic Tiger.
The results were published in The Daft.ie Rental Price Report for Q1 2022 on Thursday (12 May).
The national average cost of rent is now €1,567 per month, an increase of 11.7% from last year.
In the first three months of 2022 alone, the average listed rent nationwide rose by 2.8%.
Several counties saw major increases in the cost of rent over the year, with the average rent in Leitrim costing nearly 25% more than last year.
One of the key factors in the continuing rise in the cost of rent is a lack of supply.
At the start of May, there were only 851 houses available to rent in Ireland, a decrease of three quarters from the same date last year.
The number is the lowest seen since the Daft.ie Rental Price Report began in 2006.
“The figures in this latest Daft.ie Rental Report confirm, for example, that for prospective tenants of new leases – ‘movers’ – things have, as best we can tell, never been so grim,” said Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics in Trinity College, Dublin.
“One of the most obvious ways to come to that conclusion is to look at the level and change in listed market rents, i.e. what someone would pay if they were to move into a newly rented home currently.
“The average market rent, per month, rose just over €1,400 a year ago to €1,567 in the first quarter of 2022.
“This level of rents is over twice the low of €765 per month, seen just over a decade ago in late 2011.
“It is also more than 50% higher than the Celtic Tiger peak of €1,030 per month, seen in the first quarter of 2008.”
Lyons described the current shortage of houses as “chronic and worsening”, and that the only solution was to increase the number of houses.
“With more pressure from certain quarters to stop new rental homes being built, policymakers must hold their nerve.”
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