Double Digit Growth in Rents Nationwide

15th March 2007, Daft.ie, Ireland's busiest property website, today released the latest Daft.ie Rental Report. The report shows that rents in February 2007 increased by 10.5% compared to the same month in 2006. The average rent nationwide now stands at €1,334, its highest level since January 2002. Growth in rents has been particularly strong in the key urban markets. Dublin 2 has shown the greatest increase in the last 12 months, with rents for one and two bedroom apartments increasing by 24% and 20% respectively.

Outside Dublin, the other cities have also seen strong growth in rents. Average rents in Galway are up 8.4% in the last year, while Cork rents are up 10.2%. Limerick has seen the strongest growth of the cities, though, with average rents up 12.4%.

With house price growth now remaining static, the strong growth in rents has pushed up yields for property investors. The highest yields in the country are on properties in South Dublin and Limerick city with average yields now at 3.9%.

Commenting on the report, Eamonn Fallon, Director, Daft.ie, said "Our last report on the Irish housing market showed that house prices have stopped growing. These latest figures on the Irish rental market show that demand for housing remains very strong which will act as a counter balance to any reduction in house prices over the coming months. This lends further credence to the argument that we will see a soft rather than a hard landing for the Irish property market in 2007"

Geoff Tucker, Economist, Hooke & MacDonald attributes the strong growth in rents to sustained population growth, driven by inward migration. "The increase in rental values is primarily due to the strength of tenant demand, which is linked to the sustained growth in population and high levels of inward migration, especially in Dublin. Alongside this, supply constraints in some key urban locations have led to further upward pressure on rents while the substantially improved quality of product on offer, with modern, well fitted-out apartments replacing the traditional older bedsits/flats, has also had its effect."

The report also contains a mortgage affordability calculator for first time buyers. Assuming buyers rent out a spare room and claim mortgage interest relief, it shows that a first-time buyer couple could afford a 2-bed property in north Dublin for about €1,000 a month. For first-time-buyers looking for three bedroom properties, west county Dublin offers the best value on average, with a net burden of €974 a month.

A full copy of the report is available online at www.daft.ie/report and includes a full commentary from Geoff Tucker.

For further information please contact:
Jennifer Mooney, Marketing Solutions,
053 26789, 087 833 6450

Notes to the Editor
Daft is Ireland biggest property website with the largest selection of residential property for sale, commercial property and residential lettings in Ireland. In September 2006, a report by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) confirmed that Daft.ie was Ireland's busiest website with requests for over 38.8 million pages of information received (Page Impressions) in September 2006, ahead of other well-known sites including; MyHome.ie (26.4 million, September 06), Eircom.net (23.9 million, October 06) and RTE.ie (23.1 million, October 06).

About the Daft.ie Rental Report
The Daft.ie Rental Report is based on an analysis of the 25,000+ rental properties advertised on Daft.ie from December 06 to February 07. This figure represents a large percentage of the available properties to let in the country and therefore gives a very accurate and timely reflection of what is actually happening in the Irish rental market. Figures are calculated from econometric regressions using standard methods.