Rents in Westmeath are approximately 12 per cent lower than they were a year ago, according to the latest figures from Ireland’s busiest property website Daft.ie
According to the Daft Rental Report for quarter 1 2009, rent prices in Westmeath have fallen by 12.4 per cent, leaving the average rent at €624 per month.
Meanwhile in the wider West Leinster region, which takes in counties Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, and Laois, there has been an overall drop of 12.9 per cent, bringing the average rent to €583. Over 5 per cent of this drop occurred in the first three months of this year.
However, in spite of the positive news for the region’s tenants, the decrease has been less dramatic here than in the rest of the country. At national level, rents fell almost 16 per cent in the year to March 2009, with 5 per cent of the fall since the start of the year.
The average rent nationwide has fallen from over €1,000 a year ago to €840 in April 2009, with the major cities experiencing the largest drops.
Almost 15,000 new properties now come on to the lettings market every month, with the total number of properties available to rent in the country at any one point above 20,000. This is twice the level of early 2008.
"The rental market is feeling the brunt of too much supply and not enough demand," said Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie "The number of properties available for rent is now over 23,000 - an all time high. This additional supply is having a downward effect on price and is also pushing out the time it is taking to rent properties."
