Average rents in newly registered tenancies continued to rise in the first three months of the year, according to the latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).
Their latest report shows that the average rent stood at €1,544 per month. This represented an increase of almost 9% in the year or 2.5% compared to the final quarter of last year.
In compiling the report, the RTB examined actual rents paid under 14,085 private tenancies which were newly registered with the board in the three-month period. The index is not designed to capture rents being paid by existing tenants.
The purpose of the Rent Index is to measure rental price developments faced by those taking up new tenancies in the private rental sector.
The average rent for new tenancies in Dublin stood at €2,102 per month in the three-month period.
In the Greater Dublin Area - excluding the capital itself - the average came in at €1,530 while it was €1,133 outside of the GDA.
There were large variations in the rest of the country with the average rent in Cork City standing at €1,490.
The highest standardised average rent in new tenancies for Q1 2023 were in Dublin at €2,102 per month while the lowest monthly rents were in Leitrim where the standardised average stood at €809 per month.
Sixteen counties had standardised average rents in new tenancies above €1,000 per month in Q1 2023: Carlow, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.
"It is important to note that these results are for new tenancies only and therefore these insights relate to only a proportion of the overall private rental sector in Ireland," RTB Director Niall Byrne pointed out.
Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area accounted for just over half of all new tenancy agreements registered in the first three months.
Nationally, just over 58% of all new tenancies related to apartments.
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien has also designated new Rent Pressure Zones in Ennis, Kilkenny county, Limerick city and county, and Waterford city and county.
In these areas, a landlord is permitted to raise the rent once in 12 months, capped at 2%.
