Rent in Limerick city through the roof as it climbs three times the national average

THE COST of renting in Limerick city has risen three times the national average in the last year, according to the Daft.ie Rental Price Report Q2 2024.

The average open-market rent nationwide in the second quarter of the year was €1,922 per month, up 7.3% year-on-year and 41% higher than before the outbreak of Covid-19.

In Limerick city, rents have risen by 21.2% in the last year and the average rent is now €2,107.

In county Limerick, market rents were on average 12.3% higher in the second quarter of 2024 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1,564, up 68% from the level prevailing when the covid19 pandemic occurred.

Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, associate professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said: “Between mid-2022 and mid-2023, a slow-down in inflation in open-market rents occurred, driven by Dublin and in particular by the construction of significant numbers of new rental homes in the Dublin area.

"However, as seen by very rates of inflation in market rents in the other cities, this was limited to the capital, where new supply was concentrated."

Mr Lyons said the most recent reports suggests that, even in Dublin, improvement in the availability of rental homes is stalling.

"Without new rental supply, it is likely that future pressure on rents will be upward, further straining affordability for those on regular incomes. It remains incumbent on policymakers to first develop a thorough understanding of rental supply dynamics and second devise detailed plan on dramatically increasing rental supply, in all major rental markets, over the coming years.”

Nationwide, market rents rose by an average of 2% in the second quarter of 2024. This marks the fourteenth consecutive quarter in which rents nationwide have increased and the 45th time in the last 48 quarters. 

Inflation in market rents remains significantly lower in Dublin than elsewhere in the country. In the capital, rents in the second quarter of the year were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, while elsewhere in the country, they were on average 10.6% higher.

Market rents rose "particularly sharply" in Limerick City (up 21% year-on-year) but the three other cities also saw double-digit increases, ranging from 13% in Galway to 10% in Waterford. Outside the cities, the rate of increase was similar, on average, between 9.3% in Munster and 10.5% in Connacht-Ulster.

As has consistently been the case in recent years, availability on the rental market remains extremely tight. On August 1, there were just over 2,200 homes available to rent across the country, effectively unchanged on the same date a year previously and half the 2015-2019 average of 4,400.

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Average market rents, and year-on-year change, 2024 Q2

Dublin: €2,427, up 3.5%

Cork city: €2,005, up 11.9%

Limerick city: €2,107, up 21.2%

Galway city: €2,114, up 13.3%

Waterford city: €1,616, up 9.9%

Rest of the country: €1,573, up 9.9%