[Article] Rents nationwide at two year low

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2008/1118/daft.html

Rents nationwide at two year low
Tuesday, 18 November 2008 13:07

Rents countrywide have fallen to their lowest levels in over two years, new figures show, and they are likely to keep falling for at least another 12 months.

Property website Daft.ie says that in the past three months, rents have dropped by an average of 3% across the country due to what it called the dramatic increase in the number of properties available to rent.

At the start of November, Daft.ie says there were over 18,000 properties available to rent nationwide, up a massive 133% on the same time last year. The rental market has been flooded with properties that are not selling.

Three of Dublin's commuter counties - Meath, Louth and Kildare - have been among the most seriously affected, with rents there falling over 5% in the last 12 months.

Daft.ie says the current down-turn in rents is closely related to ongoing uncertainty in the broader housing market.

'2006 and 2007 saw an unprecedented number of new homes built in Ireland - probably over 170,000 in two years,' commented Ronan Lyons, Daft.ie's economist.

'With no shortage of unsold properties, rents can be expected to continue to fall for perhaps another 12 months. Much lower numbers of new homes built from 2009 on - perhaps only 55,000 over the course of 2009 and 2010 - should bring Ireland's property market back into balance,' he added.

http://www.daft.ie/news/2008/daft-rental-report-q4-2008.daft

Rents Hit Lowest Level in Two Years

18th November 2008, Rents have hit their lowest level since August 2006 according to the latest rental report from property website Daft.ie. In the past 3 months, rents dropped by 3% on average across the country. The continuing fall in rents is linked to the dramatic increase in the number of properties available to rent. At the start of November, there were over 18,000 properties available to rent nationwide, an increase of 133% on the same period last year.

Three of Dublin's commuter counties - Meath, Louth, Kildare - have been among the most seriously affected, with rents falling more than 5% in the last twelve months. In Kildare, for example, average rents have fallen below €1,000 for the first time since 2006. Elsewhere, Cork and Galway cities have also seen significant decreases in rents, falling 5.3% and 4.1% respectively, while in Dublin, the south and west county areas have lost almost 5% in the last 12 months.

According to Ronan Lyons, Economist with Daft.ie, the current down-turn in rents is closely related to ongoing uncertainty in the broader housing market. "In the second half of 2007, rents were rising at double-digit rates as potential first-time buyers postponed buying as they saw house prices falling. Since then the rental market has been flooded by those properties that aren't selling, reversing the trend of increasing rents".

He added "2006 and 2007 saw an unprecedented number of new homes built in Ireland - probably over 170,000 in two years. With no shortage of unsold properties, rents can be expected to continue to fall for perhaps another 12 months. Much lower numbers of new homes built from 2009 on - perhaps only 55,000 over the course of 2009 and 2010 - should bring Ireland's property market back into balance."

Dr. Stephen Kinsella, Economist and Lecturer at the University of Limerick, sees the findings as good news for those living in rented accommodation. "Everyone renting in Ireland will feel relief from the familiar pressure of ever-increasing rents. This decrease in rents will help their bank balances, and make them a little richer, and perhaps they will spend some of that extra money, and so help the economy out of the downturn. The rental price drops help those in some of the weakest positions in Irish society: those in need of short term accommodation in a high cost economy, migrants, and those on lower incomes".

The full report, attached, contains a commentary by Dr. Stephen Kinsella, as well as a first-time buyer affordability analysis and estimated yields around the country. It is available online at www.daft.ie/report

For further information please contact:

* Naoise McNally (01 421 8700), Daft.ie - media@daft.ie


Notes to the Editor
Daft.ie is Ireland's largest property website. In 2007, over €60 billion worth of Irish property alone was listed on the site. The latest audited report from ABCe (Sept 2008) shows traffic of 85 million page impressions (pages of information received) and over 1 million unique users. Daft.ie is now the number one property website in Ireland across all demographics, from first-time-buyers to commercial property investors.

About the Daft Rental Report
The Daft Rental Report is based on an analysis of the 520,000 rental properties advertised on Daft.ie since January 2002, including 133,000 posted since November 2007. This figure represents the bulk of the available properties to let in the country and therefore gives the most accurate and timely reflection of what is happening in the Irish rental market. Figures are calculated from econometric regressions using standard methods.

http://www.daft.ie/report/index.daft

uncanny

Daft rentals just broke through the 20,000 barrier.

Landlords can either have their places sitting empty indefinitely while paying the entire mortgage, or they can cut the asking rent to entice a tenant.

The pool of renters is going to stay the same (at best) or more likely shrink due to emigration. There is massive oversupply of rental property.

Renters have never been in a stronger position to negotiate on price, or had greater choice available to them.

Every renter should be looking for a rental property 10-20% cheaper than what they're currently paying with that pool of 20,000 to draw from.

Get out there and start lowballing all those amateur landlords with their empty BTLs. When you get a bite, move. Now your current landlord needs to reduce their rent to get another tenant.

They screwed you on the way up, now it's time to screw them on the way down. Karma.