Rents in County Waterford up 8.4 per cent in 2020

The cost of renting a home in Waterford is continuing to increase.

The average rent in Waterford City is now €1,067, according to new data from Daft.ie, that's a year-on-year jump of 5.6 per cent.

In County Waterford, the average rent is up by 8.4 per cent to €1,039 per month.

Prices in Dublin fell however by more than 3 per cent, but every other main city saw inflation.

According to the report, there were just 462 homes available to rent in Munster on February 1, the lowest figure ever recorded in a series going back to January 2006.

Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, an economist at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft Report, said:

"Often people query whether the basics of supply and demand apply to the housing market. These latest figures should remove any lingering doubts about the importance of supply in lower rents.

"Outside Dublin, Covid-19 has led to a further worsening of supply conditions in the rental market, with the number of homes coming on each month down 17% on already low levels. While demand for rental homes outside the capital has fallen - with the rise in unemployment - it has not fallen as much as supply, pushing rents further upwards.

"In Dublin, Covid-19 has had the opposite effect, with the number of homes being advertised to rent up 64% on February 1st, compared to a year previously. With the increase in homes being advertised, active demand for homes to rent has also soared, up 40% compared to pre-pandemic. But the greater liquidity of the market has helped bring rents down slightly.

"Nonetheless, rents in the capital - and in Ireland's other main cities - remain at twice their level a decade ago.

"This underscores the importance of ensuring the construction of tens of thousands of new rental homes over the coming years, to help bring rents back down to affordable levels."

Average rents, and year-on-year change, 2020Q4