Westmeath’s tenants are now paying 15 per cent less rent than they were a year ago, according to the latest figures from property website Daft.ie
According to the Daft Rental Report for quarter 4 2009, the average monthly rent paid by Westmeath tenants now stands at €557, an overall drop of 15 per cent on the previous year.
The report also found rental rates in Westmeath are roughly in line with the wider West Leinster region, which takes in counties Westmeath, Longford, Offaly, and Laois. Average monthly rents for the region stand at €538, 15.2 per cent lower than a year previously and some 22.2 per cent less than peak rents in early 2008.
On average in West Leinster, rent on a three-bed residence now costs €607 per month, a figure that is undercut only in Ulster. In contrast, the same property in Dublin 4 would cost €1,791, in Galway City €835, in South East Leinster €661, and in Connaught €639.
However, in spite of the positive news for the region’s tenants, Daft says the latest figures reveal that, nationally, rents are showing the first signs of levelling off.
Rents continued to fall in the final three months of 2009, but at a slower rate than earlier in the year. During the fourth quarter of 2009, rents fell by 3.9 per cent, compared to previous falls of between 4 and 6 per cent.
And in January this year, rents across the country actually rose by just over 1 per cent, the first time rents have risen since they began to fall two years ago. The national average rent now stands at €765, almost 25 per cent below peak levels seen in early 2008.
“It is too soon to say definitively whether rents have levelled off, but the January increase does seem to be broadly consistent around the country,” said Ronan Lyons, economist at Daft.ie
“The levelling off is most likely a result of a steady fall in the number of properties available to rent nationwide. Over the past five months we have seen the stock of property available to rent fall by more than 20 per cent.”
