Rent in Waterford skyrockets to a whopping 5.8% in last year

In Waterford City, rents have risen by 5.8% in the last year and the average rent is now €1639, according to the latest report from Daft.ie.

In the rest of Waterford, market rents were on average 9.3% higher in the third quarter of 2024 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1633, up 68% from the level prevailing when the covid19 pandemic occurred.

Market rents in Munster rose 7.7% year-on-year, down from an inflation rate of 13% a year ago. The on-going increase in rents reflects very tight availability, with roughly 340 homes available to rent on November 1st, down 13% year-on-year and only one third of the late 2010s average.

Nationwide, market rents rose by an average of 1.7% in the third quarter of 2024, according to the latest Rental Report by Daft.ie, marking the fifteenth consecutive quarter in which rents nationwide have increased.

The average open-market rent nationwide in the third quarter of the year was €1,955 per month, up 7.2% year-on-year and 43% higher than before the outbreak of covid19.

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Inflation in market rents in Dublin has accelerated in recent months, bringing it closer to rates seen elsewhere in the country. In the capital, rents in the third quarter of the year were 5.2% higher than a year earlier, twice the rate of inflation seen at the end of 2023.

Elsewhere in the country, the rate of inflation is now 8.9% (down from 12.3%). Market rents continue to rise sharply in Limerick City (up 19% year-on-year) while both Cork and Galway cities saw increases of just over 10%. Rents in Waterford city were up 5.8% year-on-year and outside the cities, rents increased 8.3%.

After 18 months of improving availability, the number of homes available to rent on the open market is falling. On November 1st, there were just over 2,400 homes available to rent across the country, down 14% on the same date a year previously and well below the 2015-2019 average of almost 4,400. 

Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report, said:

“This latest Rental Report confirms the signals that emerged three months ago that upward pressure is building once more in Dublin.

“During 2023, as Dublin experience a significant pipeline of new rental homes, it enjoyed very little inflation in rents, as supply and demand were largely in balance.

“However, the upswing in construction of rental homes in Dublin is over. As the rate of building of rental homes continues to fall, Dublin is likely to resemble the rest of the country, where availability has been incredibly tight over the last three years, leading to dramatic increases in open-market rents.

“When thinking about boosting housing supply, owner-occupied homes and social housing have dominated policymaker attention over the last few years.

“The new government will have to address the lack of supply of private rental housing early in its term, if it is to bring about a change in conditions similar to what Dublin enjoyed in 2023 but across all rental markets.”