Average rents are now double that of the €765 a month charged in late 2011. The sharp increase in rents around the country reflects a worsening of the unprecedented scarcity of rental homes, a report from property website Daft.ie says.
The number of homes to rent - just 1,397 were available on February 1 - is at an all-time low on Daft.ie's listings.
While rents are soaring, house prices are climbing even faster at 14% a year, putting homes further out of reach for many of those who are saving for a deposit. The recent fall in the number of homes for rent reflects a further tightening of supply in Dublin, where just 712 homes were available on February 1 - less than a quarter of the average seen for February over the past 20 years.
Outside Dublin, supply improved marginally between November and February but with just 685 homes to rent, availability is less than a third of the pre-pandemic level of February 2020, and just 5% the level seen a decade ago.
Report author and Trinity College Dublin economics professor Ronan Lyons said yesterday: "The quarterly increase in rents was 3% - the annual equivalent of a 12.5% rise - similar to the increase seen in the third quarter of the year, but unlike then, Dublin is now bearing the brunt of the pressure.
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"Rents in the capital rose by 4.1% between September and December, the largest three-month increase since early 2014 and a clear signal that - whatever the Covid-19 lockdowns may have done to the rental market in the capital - demand has returned."
Regional trends in rents point to a readjustment in demand. While rents in Munster, outside its three main cities of Cork, Limerick and Waterford, had seen some of the strongest growth in recent months, Dublin is now seeing the fastest percentage growth in the country.
This 4.1% rise in the capital is compared to just 0.5% in Munster - a reversal of the situation in the spring and autumn of last year.
The availability of rental homes both nationally and in Dublin was at an all-time low, in a national series stretching back to 2006 - and a Dublin series that goes back to 2002, the last edition of Daft.ie's Rental Report shows.
Mr Lyons said: "Over the past two decades, and in line with basic economic theory, tight availability is a harbinger of rising rents and thus if supply was tight in the final few months of 2021, one would expect rents to increase.
"Unfortunately, the figures for February 1 suggest that, if anything, availability has worsened further since late 2021.
"But is supply really that tight? A narrative has emerged that, while supply might be tight in the traditional rental market, new private rental sector [PRS] supply changes that picture. For example, [Dublin complex] Capital Docks has become infamous as an example of new high-spec apartments allegedly left empty, while renters suffer," he went on.
"But examination of publicly available information reveals that it was three-quarters full at the start of 2022, with active leases on 142 of its 190 addresses. In total, across 63 identifiable PRS complexes completed before 2021, with nearly 7,800 homes, the latest information suggests 90% of those - just under 7,000 - are occupied.
"Compared to the narrative of empty buildings of luxury apartments hulking over the city, the picture from Ireland's PRS sector is one of strong demand translating into homes being used."
Images: Getty Images & Photocall Ireland
