Average monthly rental premiums within County Westmeath were on average 4.9 percent higher in the third quarter of 2020 than a year previously, with the average charge for renting a residential property now €1,048, up 99 percent from its lowest point, according to the latest Daft.ie Housing Market Report which was released in recent times.
The average cost to rent a three bedroom residential property in the county is now €994, while the charge for renting a one bedroom apartment is currently €774.
Nationally, the average listed rent increased by 1.2 percent between June and September. The jump offsets a fall of 1.4 percent in the second quarter, following the outbreak of Covid-19 and means that the average monthly rent nationwide in the third quarter of 2020 was €1,419, up 1.2 percent on the same period in 2019 and 91 percent higher than its lowest point in late 2011.
Outside Dublin, rents escalated by 2.9 percent in the third quarter and are now 3.3 percent higher than a year ago. The largest increases in rents has been in the main cities (excluding Dublin ) and in the rest of Leinster.
The number of properties available to buy on the market nationwide was almost 4,200 on November 1, down 17 percent on the same date a year ago.
As with prices, there is a difference between Dublin and the rest of the country. In Dublin, the stock available to rent is almost twice the level seen a year ago (2,700 vs. 1,400 ) while outside Dublin, rental stock is down one third and, at just 1,435 on November 1, was at its lowest level ever in a series that dates back 15 years to the start of 2006.
“The figures in this latest Rental Report highlight the importance of supply in bringing about more affordable rents. In Dublin, supply has increased this year, largely due to the impact of Covid-19, and rents are down slightly. Elsewhere in the country, rental shortages continue to worsen and rents continue to rise to all-time highs. Even in Dublin, availability remains below 2006-2007 levels, a time of rental shortages, and at roughly one third the level of availability seen a decade ago. This underscores the importance of significant amounts of additional new rental supply – and not just in Dublin – in solving an issue that was central in the minds of voters earlier this year,” Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, stated.
