Rents nationwide recorded their largest growth rate since 2017, according to new figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
Their latest quarterly rent index for the three months from July to September reveals that rents rose by 8.3%, the highest level of growth since the rate of 8.4% reported at the end of 2017.
The national standardised average rent stood at €1,397 during the third quarter, an increase of €44 on the previous quarter.
The standardised average rent for houses rose by 3.7% to €1,395 a month from the previous quarter to give a year-on-year increase of 11%.
Meanwhile, the standardised average rent for apartments increased by 2.9% to €1,419 a month on a quarterly basis and by 6.6% on an annual basis.
The index is compiled in conjunction with the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The RTB noted that Dublin has seen a greater initial drop and slower rebound in rental price growth since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic than elsewhere.
It said this is likely due to the differing impact of the Covid-19 economic shock on both the demand and supply sides of the market in the short run.
While rental price growth remained lower in Dublin than elsewhere in the third quarter of 2021, its quarter-on-quarter growth of 3.6% is the highest since the second quarter of 2019.
Traditionally, the third quarter of a year sees the highest rate of tenancy registration with the RTB, coinciding with the start of the academic year, but it said this usual pattern was not repeated this year.
While rent agreements did mark a small increase on the second quarter of 2021, the RTB said there has been a substantial decline in the number of tenancies registered, with a 31% decline compared to the same time in pre-pandemic 2019.
"These figures show the continued challenges posed by the re-opening of the Irish economy. The lower number of registrations has certainly impacted the standardised average rents and could be, among other factors, a result that people are staying in their tenancies longer due to uncertainty in the market," the board said.
The figures show that rental prices in Dublin at €1,916 a month were substantially higher than those outside Dublin at €1,114 a month.
Rent levels in Dublin City were 4.7% higher in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2021, while they increased by 5.8% year-on-year.
Galway City had the second highest standardised average rent level at €1,471. The standardised average rent in Cork City stood at €1,389 per month, and Limerick City was €1,150 during the three months from July to September.
The city with the lowest standardised average rent in was Waterford City at €1,064 a month, the RTB index shows.
Rents also rose in all but four counties during the third quarter of 2021.
Rents in Sligo increased the most with a quarterly growth rate of 13.7%, while rents in Limerick experienced the largest quarterly decrease, falling by 1.6%.
The RTB said that despite Leitrim having the lowest rent at €731 a month, the county experienced the fastest year-on-year growth in rents at 21.5%. The lowest annual growth in the standardised average rent was in Westmeath at 4.8%.
Twenty counties - excluding Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick, Offaly, Westmeath and Wicklow - saw annual growth above 10%.
The index also reveals that 12 counties had standardised average rents above €1,000 a month - Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Waterford and Wicklow.
