Rental costs have climbed across the country over the past 12 months, with the average two-bedroom apartment now costing more than €2,000 per month, while fewer than 2,000 properties are currently available to rent nationwide, according to a new report.
According to the latest rental analysis from Daft.ie, market rents across the country increased by 4.4 per cent in 2025, compared with a rise of 3.6 per cent recorded in 2024, reports The Mirror.
The newest edition of the rental report introduces revised methods and additional indicators covering room rentals alongside entire properties. It also provides like-for-like rent comparisons over time at both national and regional levels, with data stretching back to the early 2000s for full homes as well as individual rooms.
Rents have now climbed in 13 of the past 14 years and stand roughly one third higher than before Covid, as well as 80 per cent above levels seen a decade ago. Between September and December, the average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment nationwide reached €2,086 per month, reports The Mirror.
On February 1, fewer than 1,800 homes were available to rent across the country. That figure marks a 22 per cent drop compared with the same date last year and represents the lowest availability recorded for this period since records began in 2006.
The shortage is especially severe in Dublin, where rental availability has fallen by more than one third year-on-year, reports The Mirror.
Rental inflation remains particularly elevated in the four main cities outside the capital. The findings reveal that rents in the final quarter of 2025 were 11.4 per cent higher in Galway city, 7.5 per cent higher in Cork, 6.9 per cent higher in Waterford and five per cent higher in Limerick.
Although rent growth gathered pace in Dublin during the year, it continues to be comparatively lower at three per cent. Beyond the major cities, open market rental inflation stands at just over six per cent in both Leinster and Munster, and 5.1 per cent in Connacht-Ulster, reports The Mirror.
Report author Ronan Lyons, Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said: “Widespread uncertainty about the new rent controls appears to have exacerbated ongoing supply shortages in the rental market, reports The Mirror.
“Across the country, there have been steep falls in rental availability over the last year. There were fewer homes available to rent on February 1 this year than at the same time of year at any stage back to 2006, reports The Mirror.
“Unsurprisingly, with extremely tight availability, rents in the open market continue to rise, with a further 4.4 per cent increase during 2025, up from 3.6 per cent in 2024, reports The Mirror.
“The same is true for room rentals, which have also seen a sharp fall in availability in the last year. It remains to be seen whether supply is holding off until new tenancy terms come in on March 1 or whether the change in rent controls has led to a further reduction in the stock of rental homes, as landlords sell up,” reports The Mirror.
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