Falling rents and more choice - good news for students

20th August 2008, The supply of available rental accommodation has more than doubled over the last twelve months, reaching an all-time high, according to the latest rental report from property website Daft.ie. This increase in the supply of rental properties has pushed rents downwards - falling 2.2% in the past three months.

While overall the cost of accommodation for students is falling this year, there are significant differences in rents across the country. Dublin-based students pay significantly more than those in college outside the capital - a student at DCU staying near the college will pay an average of €525 per month for a double room, while in Cork, UCC students will pay less than €400. In Limerick, UL students will pay on average €309 for a double room, while students at Trinity College will pay €649 for a double room in Dublin city centre.

Despite market conditions, Ronan Lyons, economist with Daft.ie, cautions students against waiting to late to pick their accommodation for the year. "While the number of rental properties available this year has doubled, demand is still strong. Students looking for good accommodation close to where they are studying need to act now as the best places will be taken quickly."

In the broader rental market, the increase in supply of rental properties is having its biggest impact on rents outside the big cities. Rents in Munster, Connacht and Ulster are between 3% and 6% below their 2007 levels. Rents in the bigger cities are largely at the same level as this time last year, having risen in the second half of 2007 and fallen over the past number of months.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2008 and early 2009, Ronan Lyons sees current trends continuing "Overall, demand in the rental market seems to be holding up well, with the number of properties being rented rising from below 7,000 a month in late 2007 to above 10,000 in recent months. Nonetheless, with the number of rental properties coming on to the market increasing every month, rents look set to fall for the rest of the year and possibly into 2009."

Top 10 universities by average cost of double room

The full report, containing a special college accommodation overview, regional trends and commentary by Shane Kelly, President of USI 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 was listed on the site. The latest audited report from ABCe (April 2008) shows traffic of 75 million page impressions (pages of information received) and 974,595 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 480,000 rental properties advertised on Daft.ie since January 2002, including 93,000 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.