Limerick cheapest urban place to rent in, agents find

LIMERICK is the cheapest urban place to rent in, new figures from property agents Sherry FitzGerald show.

While Dublin city dwellers are now spending as much as 55 per cent of their take-home pay on rent, a new high in the property market,  those in Limerick are giving up just 30 per cent of their after-tax income on their home.

After Limerick, the next most affordable places to live are Cork city at 37 per cent, and Galway city at 41 per cent. Commuters to the capital are also spending a higher proportion of their income, with Wicklow at 42 per cent.

Financial experts recommend that a person keeps their housing costs to 30 per cent of their net income. 

Currently there are just 50 properties to rent in Limerick city, and 95 properties in the wider Limerick area. To date this year 1,443 properties have sold in Limerick, according to the latest listings with the Property Price Register, the national database of all house sales since 2010.

The latest survey from Daft.ie shows that rents have rocketed to new highs in Dublin, with city centre average rents of €1,741 a month, although new rent caps were helping to stabilise the market. The October report from Daft.ie shows that house prices in Limerick city have risen by 8.6% in a year to €177,771, and in the county to €169,869, a rise of 8.3%.

Prices across Munster are typically eight per cent higher than a year ago. There were just over 8,000 properties on the market in Munster in September, down eight per cent on the same date a year previously.