Rent costs still rising but at a slower rate, says ESRI
The latest rent index for the third quarter of this year, prepared by the ESRI for the Residential Tenancies Board, shows that while rents continue to rise, the rate of growth slowed over July to September compared to the second quarter of the year.
Nationally, monthly rents increased 2.3%, marginally slower than the previous quarter, when they rose 3.5%. The index also recorded the first quarterly decline in Dublin rates in over three years, and found that rents outside Dublin are now rising at a faster pace than in the capital.
Rosalind Carroll, director of the Residential Tenancies Board, warned against reading too much into the results from one quarter of the year: “In Q2, rents in Dublin went up by 4.4%, whereas this quarter we have seen much-reduced growth of just 0.6%.”
“But taking the Q3 2016 data, based as it is on actual rents being paid, as opposed to asking rents, it does appear that the rate of growth has slowed, and in particular that the rate of rental growth in Dublin appears to have slowed.
“What is also significant is that the rents outside of Dublin are now rising more rapidly than Dublin rents. Annually rents outside of Dublin grew by 9.7% compared to 7.1% in the Dublin market.
“It should be noted though that while rents outside of Dublin are accelerating, they are still 7.3% behind the peak levels of 2007,” she said.
The board says its index “is the most accurate and authoritative rent report of its kind on the private accommodation sector in Ireland”, because it is based on 30,260 new tenancies which started between July and September this year.
These tenancies were registered with the board, and so the figures reflect the actual rents being paid, according to its records, as distinct from the asking or advertised rent.
Rents for houses are rising at a slightly faster rate than rents for apartments, at 2.6% compared to 1.8%. The slowdown in growth in the capital appears to be due to a slight decrease in Dublin house rents of 0.6%, while rents for Dublin apartments rose 1.5% over the same period.
Overall rents outside Dublin increased 3.6%, which consisted of a 3.6% increase in house rents while apartment rents rose by 3.4%.
