REVEALED: The most expensive and least expensive areas to rent in Ireland

Average rent in Ireland has reached an all-time high... again.

Average rental prices in Ireland have reached a record high for the tenth quarter in succession and have risen for the 25^th quarter in succession, according to the latest Irish rental price report by daft.ie. The average cost of renting in Ireland is now €1,334 a month, a figure 30% higher than the peak figure in 2008, with figures in the report showing that Dublin rents are up by 10.9% year-on-year. Not surprisingly, Dublin is home to the most expensive areas to rent in the country. Average rent in South County Dublin is €2,156 per month, followed by South Dublin City at €2,094 per month, Central Dublin at €2,016 per month and North Dublin City at €1,847 per month. At the opposite end of the scale, the cheapest average rent is to be found in Leitrim (€577 per month), followed by Donegal (€628 per month), Roscommon (€674 per month) and Longford (€680 per month). daft.ie Rental Report: Q3 2018 - An infographic by the team at daft.ie The reason for the consistent increase in rental prices in recent years, according to the author of the report, Ronan Lyons, is that demand far outstrips supply. There are, for example, just 3,200 units available to rent nationwide, down 4.5% on last year. Initially a Dublin problem, it has spread to the rest of the country and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. “Availability (since 2010) in Dublin has typically been about 40% below a month's worth of listings. There has been no improvement in this metric in Dublin recently ‐ suggesting little end to upward pressures in rents,” writes Lyons. “And the non-Dublin market has, as of 2018, got as bad. So now a problem that started to emerge nine years ago in Dublin has not only not been resolved, it has spread to the rest of the country.” “Even as things stand, the number of people in rental accommodation is roughly 50% larger than ten years ago,” Lyons adds. “This means that, if 4,000 homes were needed to be listed every month for Dublin's rental market to be in equilibrium a decade ago, then 6,000 are needed now. Dublin is currently seeing only 2,200 per month at the moment.” You can read the latest Irish rental price report in full here.