Lack of housing supply blamed for rising rents
The latest report from Daft.ie shows rents are rising fastest in cities outside Dublin - with a 15.4% jump in Cork.
Last year prices rose by 9%, with the average rent was €979 at the end of 2015.
Galway rents were up over 13%, and in Limerick they rose 12.4%.
The survey found the number of available rental properties is less than a quarter of what it was five years ago.
According to Daft.ie, as of February 1, there were fewer than 1,400 properties available to rent in Dublin.
Between 2008 and 2012, the total number of properties available to rent in the four other cities – Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford – has fallen from an average of 2,000 to just over 300. And outside the cities, the number has fallen from 10,600 to just 1,900.
Trinity College economist Ronan Lyons compiled the Daft.ie report and says the lack of supply is driving rent increases.
"All of this ultimately comes down to a lack of availability," he said.
"so if you look at the units available to rent at any one point in time, that's been falling steadily over the past three or four years, and we've reached the point now where there's very little choice on the market across the country, not just in the major cities, but across the country as a whole."
