The latest Quarterly Rent Index from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) has been released today and shows that growth in private sector rents continued across all regions of the country in the final quarter of 2016.
It is estimated that private sector rents across the country as a whole grew by 7.8% year on year from the fourth quarter in 2016 and the standard national average rent in the final quarter of last year stood at €986 per month.
Overall, nationally, rents are now 2.7% below the 2007 peak. Outside of Dublin, houses are 11.1% below the 2007 peak level, while apartments are 5.8% below, although rents have been steadily increasing since the beginning of 2015.
The data shows that demand in Dublin increased significantly in fourth quarter of 2016, reflected in an 11.1% increase in rents for apartments. Rents in Dublin are now 8.3 % greater than the fourth quarter 2007 peak. The growth in rents for apartments was more pronounced than for housing, now standing at 12.3% above the 2007 peak, compared to 5% for houses.
Outside Dublin, the pace of growth in rents for houses slowed by 0.3% in the fourth quarter 2016, while the pace of growth in apartments quickened. In 2016, the average quarterly growth in the Dublin Rent Index exceeded the equivalent growth rate in national house prices, growing 2.2% compared to 1.4%.
Commenting on the data, RTB Director, Ms. Rosalind Carroll said, "The Rent Index report shows that rents in Dublin and the surrounding commuter counties, along with Cork and Galway Cities, are among the highest relative to the standardised average rent. These results reflect a rental market that remains volatile with restricted supply."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
