Rents double what they were a decade ago, with 4.4% increase last year, report finds

In the last year alone, the average market rent for a two-bedroom home in Cork City has risen above €2,000. The average rent for a similar property in Galway now stands at €2,113, while rents are up 5% in Limerick to €2,127.

Market rents rose 4.4% nationally last year and are nearly double what they were a decade ago, as supply on the market hit a new low, a new report has found.

The latest rental report by property website Daft.ie said the average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment countrywide is €2,086, with prices rising the fastest in the four major cities aside from Dublin. Galway rents are up 11.4% and Cork rents up 7.5%.

Furthermore, a dearth in supply may reflect the Government’s new rental rules due to take effect soon, which allow landlords to reset rents to market rates if a tenant leaves voluntarily and also reset them every six years, according to Trinity College Dublin professor in economics Ronan Lyons.

“Widespread uncertainty about the new rent controls appears to have exacerbated ongoing supply shortages in the rental market,” Mr Lyons, who authored the Daft.ie report, said.

“Across the country, there have been steep falls in rental availability over the last year. There were fewer homes available to rent on February 1 this year than at the same time of year at any stage back to 2006.

It remains to be seen whether supply is holding off until new tenancy terms come in on March 1 or whether the change in rent controls has led to a further reduction in the stock of rental homes, as landlords sell up.

According to the Daft.ie report, market rents are now 34% above pre-covid levels and 79% higher than 10 years ago.

In the last year alone, the average market rent for a two-bedroom home in Cork City has risen above €2,000. The average rent for a similar property in Galway now stands at €2,113, while rents are up 5% in Limerick to €2,127.

In Waterford, rents have risen 6.9%, and now an average two-bed costs €1,525 to rent.

In Dublin, however, inflation is slower, at just 3%, with the average two-bed costing €2,517 to rent a month.

Sitting tenants, over time, have faced far lower rent increases, according to the Daft.ie report.

“Rents for stayers were unchanged, and were 2.2% higher than a year ago, half the rate seen in the open market,” it said. “Since 2016, stayers’ rents have risen by 22% on average — less than one third of the 68% increase seen by those in the open market.” 

Mr Lyons said that, in Dublin in particular, a shortage of homes to rent is particularly acute, with availability now half what it was on average between 2015 and 2019.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, he added the number of homes available to rent remained the best predictor of where rental prices would go next.

“With supply still shrinking, and significant uncertainty about the exact nature and impact of new rent control measures due to come into force in a matter of weeks, underlying pressures in the rental market remain firmly upward in 2026,” he said.