As a tenant, searching for a property to let in Galway over the past number of years has been an omnious task and one few would envy.
The past couple of years have seen demand for rented properties in the city soar for many now, well-documented reasons, including decentralisation and working from home trends as well as the increase in employment opportunities in the city.
Galway has always been recognised as a university city and the growth of both major 3rd level institutions, University of Galway and ATU Galway, have played no small part in the demand for rental accommodation.
The rental sector has certainly seen an exodus of one-off landlords and this trend is set to continue in 2024 with many landlords deciding to ‘cash out’ of the rental market. However, this trend probably has as much to do with the natural lifespan of a rental property for a landlord as much as anything else. We have seen landlords who, having rented their property for many years, are just at the stage when it is right for them to sell to benefit their own retirement plans.
We are also seeing a lot of new stock hitting the rental market – brand new apartments favoured by young working professionals who value the conveniences of modern living and are willing to pay for higher standards of rental properties that come fully furnished and equipped. As stock levels of these such properties rise, the squeeze is put on older properties requiring more maintenance that begin to start costing landlords more to maintain than they deem worth it.
Although demand for rental properties is still high in the city, increases in supply have helped to regulate the market somewhat. We still see tenants remaining in properties for longer periods, especially if they are paying relatively low rents compared to today's open market rents which have remained at high levels.
Demand for rental properties looks set to remain steady throughout 2024 which should see rents remain relatively stable.
At time of print, there are 39 units available to rent in Galway city. This figure was over 50 at the end of February. In the immediate aftermath of Covid, the number of available units was in the teens, indicating more supply to the market three years on.
