Rents in Waterford City have risen by 17.4% in the last year - a bigger increase than any other city in the country.
That's according to a Daft.ie Rental Price Report this morning.
It shows that rents across Ireland reached record highs in the 3rd quarter of this year, when compared to the same period last year.
The average rent in Waterford City is now €1,357 per month, and in the county it's €1,339 - a rise of 16%.
The report reveals the 14.1% national increase is the highest recorded since since the reports started in 2006.
Daft.ie economist and author of the report, Ronan Lyons, says prices will only stabilise and reduce when a greater number of rental homes are built:
"The worry would be, in a country that is probably missing something like 150,000 rental homes, that only maybe 30,000 or 40,000 will get built in the next five years.
"That's not going to be nearly enough. We're not really addressing the underlying issues, which is a lack of rental homes."
Extraordinary shortages in availability
Once again, the increase in market rents around the country is driven by extraordinary shortages in the availability of rental accommodation.
Nationwide, there were just 1,087 homes available to rent on November 1st, down one quarter on the same date a year ago and roughly quarter the average level of availability during 2015-2019.
As of this morning (Tuesday, November 22nd), there are just six properties to rent in Waterford City listed on Daft.ie and 27 properties in the entire county.The latest report also includes an index of rents paid by sitting tenants, rather than movers, using a bespoke survey of tenants.
It shows that, on average, rents paid by sitting tenants have increased by 2.5% on average over the last twelve months.
Since the introduction of Rent Pressure Zones in 2016, rents of sitting tenants have increased by 17% on average, compared to an average increase in open-market rents of nearly 75% over the same period.
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