Rents begin to stabilise around country

RENTS nationally stabilised in the first three months of the year — increasing by just half of 1%.

In Cork city and some parts of Dublin, residential rents are now up to 3% higher than the same time last year, while in Galway city, they are largely stable. In Waterford city, they are 6% lower, while elsewhere in the country, rents are 3% to 4% lower than this time last year.

The total number of properties available to rent nationwide has risen slightly, but at 17,000 is well below its mid-2009 high of almost 24,000.