Screenshots from the latest Daft.ie rental report published today which show the average year-on-year change in rental prices in Dublin; across the country; and a table showing ‘mortgage v rent’ costs (click to enlarge)

Daft.ie has released it’s latest quarterly rental report this morning.

Some of its findings…

– Rents in central Dublin have risen 46% since 2010.

– Fewer than 1,400 properties were available to rent in Dublin on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Fewer than 750 homes were available to rent in Leinster on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Just 771 homes were available to rent in Munster on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Fewer than 700 homes were available to rent in Connacht and Ulster on November 1, the lowest figure since 2007.

Author of the report and Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons writes:

Nationwide, there were just 3,600 homes available to rent on February 1st, by far the lowest total since the series started in 2006. This lack of availability stems from a lack of construction activity at a time when Ireland’s population has grown year-on-year throughout the last decade. Some of the reasons given for this lack of construction sound plausible at first glance but don’t stack up. For example, it is often said that banks won’t lend like they used to, or that Irish developers are either too bust or too greedy to build. But none of that explains why Dublin in particular is witnessing such a boom in commercial construction activity, especially new office space. Or why international developers, who work off relatively tight margins in many other countries, can’t make the numbers stack up in Ireland.

The Daft.ie Rental Report