Average rents now €2,053 after 3.4% rise in first three months of 2025

There were just over 2,300 homes available to rent nationwide on May 1, according to Daft report

Market rents rose by an average of 3.4% in the first three months of 2025, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, one of the largest three-month increases in the last two decades. Picture: iStock

Market rents rose by an average of 3.4% in the first three months of 2025, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, one of the largest three-month increases in the last two decades.

In the year to March, market rents rose by 13.6% in Cork and 9.9% in Waterford. Limerick saw the largest increases, with rents up over 20% year-on-year. Rents in Galway were up 12.6%. Rents rose by 5.8% in Dublin and by 8.6% elsewhere, the smallest gap in inflation rates in two years.  Outside the major cities, rents in Leinster and Connacht-Ulster were up just over 5% year-on-year, while rents in Munster were 11.5% higher.

The average open-market rent nationwide in the first quarter of 2025 was €2,053 per month, up from a low of just €765 in 2011 and 48% higher than before the outbreak of covid.

Outside the major cities, rents in Leinster and Connacht-Ulster were up just over 5% year-on-year, while rents in Munster were 11.5% higher.

There were just over 2,300 homes available to rent nationwide on May 1, down 14% year-on-year. This is the third lowest total for May in 20 years. 

“It is imperative that the new government avoid the trap fallen into by the last one in thinking that the only determinant of new homes built is the budget given to housing. The government is not just the funder, it is also the referee," said TCD associate professor of economics Ronan Lyons, the author of the report.

“The average open-market rent nationwide exceeds €2,000 a month for the first time, up from below €1,400 a month just five years ago. The sustained increases in rents in the open market are being driven by an acute and worsening shortage of rental housing.

"Unfortunately, changes made to rent controls in 2021 dramatically reduced the ability of Ireland’s rental sector to attract the capital needed for new supply, the ultimate remedy for the shortage. The opportunity exists for the government to reform those controls and facilitate the emergence of a new pipeline of rental homes. Nonetheless, further supports will be needed to encourage new rental supply outside of the Greater Dublin Area.”