According to the latest Daft.ie Rental Report, the average rent in Dublin has now reached €2,300 and there is a ‘chronic’ shortage of homes to rent in all parts of the country.
Across the 54 markets covered, rents are on average 13.7% higher now than a year ago.
This is the strongest rate of inflation in market rents for a calendar year since the start of the Daft Report in 2005.
In Dublin, market rents were on average 13.1% higher in the final three months of 2022 than a year previously.
The average listed rent is now €2,324, up 127% from its lowest point in 2011.
The availability of rental homes in Dublin has fallen dramatically since the start of 2021, with just 501 live rental ads on February 1st, compared to an average on the same date during the 2010s of 2,400.
Nationally, market rents in the final quarter of 2022 were an average of 13.7% higher than the same period a year earlier, as availability of rental homes remained near an all-time low.
The average market rent nationwide between October and December was €1,733 per month, up 2.7% compared to the third quarter of the year and 126% above the low of €765 per month seen in late 2011.
While there are regional differences, all parts of the country are experiencing substantial year-on-year increases in open market rents.
In the year to December, the rate of inflation in Dublin was 13.1% while in Cork city, it was 14.9%.
The rate of inflation in the three other principal cities – Galway, Limerick and Waterford – was higher again, ranging from 18.9% in Limerick to 20.2% in Waterford.
Outside the cities, the average annual increase in market rents was 13.6%.
Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft Report, said:
“The figures in this latest Daft.ie Report confirm, once again, the chronic shortage of rental housing in all parts of the Irish market.
“The extraordinary collapse in availability over the past two years has brought about record increases in open market rents.
“New rental supply is the only real solution to a shortage of rental homes.
“Housing has established itself as the dominant political issue in recent years.
“While much of the policy effort is focused on homeownership, a variety of demographic trends, including delayed family formation and increased longevity, have contributed to a growing diversity in living arrangements.
“This in turn will mean more homes in the rental sector and thus a more tenure-neutral housing policy is required.
“Among the worst affected cohorts are younger adults, with the median adult age of leaving the parental home having grown almost 50% in the last decade.
“Policymakers must have a clear plan on how their housing needs will be met, a plan that includes tens of thousands of new rental homes being delivered this decade in all major towns and cities.”