Meath rents well above national average, say Daft.ie
The cost of renting a home in Meath rose by 9.5 per cent in the past year, according to the latest rental report from property website Daft.ie, with the average listed monthly rent now hitting a staggering €1,942.
Rents in the second quarter of 2024 were 1.6 per cent higher than the previous quarter as the upward trend in rents shows no sign of abating. The average open market rent nationwide between April and June was €1,922, up 7.3 per cent on the same quarter in 2023.
The rate of increase in Meath was well above this nationwide average at 9.5 per cent. The average open-market rent in the county is €1,942, which is €20 above the national average at €1,922.
Compared to pre-Covid rents, the rate of increase in Meath is a massive 44 per cent. This compares to a national average increase of 41 per cent.
The report found that the average listed rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Meath in the second quarter of this year was €1,218, up 5.1 per cent on the same period last year, while the average rent sought for a three bedroom house was €1,740 (up 7.7 per cent).
The average rent for a four-bedroom house went up by 9.3 per cent over the past year to €2,028.
As has consistently been the case in recent years, availability on the rental market remains extremely tight. On 1st August, there were just over 2,200 homes available to rent across the country, effectively unchanged on the same date a year previously ,and half the 2015-2019 average of 4,400.
Ronan Lyons, author of the Daft.ie Report, said: “Between mid-2022 and mid-2023, a slow-down in inflation in open-market rents occurred, driven by Dublin and in particular by the construction of significant numbers of new rental homes in the Dublin area. However, as seen by very high rates of inflation in market rents in the other cities, this was limited to the capital, where new supply was concentrated.
"It remains incumbent on policymakers to first develop a thorough understanding of rental supply dynamics and second devise detailed plan on dramatically increasing rental supply, in all major rental markets, over the coming years.”