The rental market continues to be "chronically starved of homes", with fewer than 1,100 available to rent nationwide.

The latest report from Daft.ie found rental property availability decreased by 22% since the same time last year.

And rents continue to surge, up 17.7% in the Connacht/Ulster market, rising 12% in Dublin and soaring 13.4% across the rest of Leinster.

The average number of rentals available between 2006 and 2021 - based on February 1 figures every year - was 8,500. The report's author, Ronan Lyons, said this comparison underscores just how bad the situation has become.

"This hopefully puts into context just how bad things are if there are only 1,100 homes on the market," the economist wrote.

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The report noted that a Covid blip in Dublin, where lockdown increased the number of lettings in early 2021 to levels higher than in 2015, has since been reversed.

"Dublin appears as starved of rental homes as any other part of the country," Mr Lyons noted.

Rents increased by 13.7% year-on-year - the second highest on record since the launch of the Daft Report in 2005.

In the capital's market, rents rose by 2.9% on average in the final quarter of 2022, and were up almost 12% year on year.

However, in the rest of Leinster (when Dublin is excluded), market rents are 13.4% higher - down from a peak of over 15% earlier in 2022. There are further signs of prices easing in the province, with market rents rising by 1.2% on average in Leinster in the final quarter of 2022 - the smallest three-month increase since late 2020.

Ulster/Connacht's 17.7% rise is in line with the average for the previous six quarters, while in Munster rents are 11% higher.