Rents in Mayo rose 21.1% last year
MARKET rents in Mayo were on average 21.1% higher in the final three months of 2022 than a year previously.
The average listed rent in the county is now €1,108 - up 114% from its lowest point.
Rents in Connaught rose 17.4% year-on-year, reflecting very low availability - just 122 homes were available to rent on February 1 compared to an average of almost 1,100 on the same date in the 2010s.
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, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie.
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.
As in recent quarters, the increase in market rents around the country is driven by extraordinary shortages in the availability of rental accommodation. Nationwide, there were just 1,096 homes available to rent on February 1, down over 20% on the same date a year ago and roughly one quarter the average level of availability during 2015-2019.
On average, rents paid by sitting tenants have also increased - by 3.8% on average - over the last 12 months.
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.”
He continued: “Housing has established itself as the dominant political issue in recent years. While much of the policy effort is focused on home ownership, 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.”