There was good news this week for students starting out or returning to college in Athlone this September, with the news that rents continue to fall in the town.
Students in Athlone can now avail of the third lowest rents of the country’s student towns, according to the latest rental figures from daft.ie
The property website’s latest rental report reveals that in the second quarter of 2009, the average rent for a single room was €221 per month. This represents a drop of 7.5 per cent on the previous year’s figures.
The Athlone figures were undercut only by Tralee and Letterkenny, where average rents for single rooms were €208 and €191 respectively.
These figures contrast dramatically with Dublin City Centre, where students have to pay €433 per month for a single room. Average rents for students in Galway city stand at €285, while in Maynooth the average rent for a single room is almost identical at €284.
Meanwhile, the report revealed that rents across the county of Westmeath have fallen by 16.3 per cent over the 12 months to June 2009.
Nationwide, average rents in July 2009 were 17.6 per cent lower than a year previously, with rents falling almost 5 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.
Rents have now been falling month on month for almost a year and a half, according to Daft economist Ronan Lyons.
“This latest Daft Report shows that rents are falling at double-digit rates around the country. This fact will no doubt be good news not only for new and returning students, but for all tenants around the country,” he says.
Although he warns that the end of falling rents may be near, “for the moment, the news is all good, at least for students and their fellow tenants”.
