THE average rent now sought for a Clare property on daft.ie is €1,109, up by 106% on the lowest point of the recession.
In its report covering the first quarter of the year, Daft.ie found that prices in Clare had increased by 14% on the first three months of 2021.
It also found that it is cheaper to pay a mortgage than rent a property in Clare, in many cases significantly so.
Rental supply is very tight in Clare, with just 17 properties available to rent last week.
Writing in the report, associate professor of economics at Trinity, Ronan Lyons stated, “In some ways, for Ireland’s rental sector, it’s like the pandemic never happened.
“As Covid-19 moves from a shock that brought daily life to a standstill, to something more like part of daily life, pre-existing patterns and pressures are re-emerging in the rental market.
“The figures in this latest Daft.ie Rental Report confirm, for example, that for prospective tenants of new leases – ‘movers’ – things have, as best we can tell, never been so grim.”
He stated that policy makers need to prioritise delivery of new stock.
“As ever, in a rental market dogged by chronic and worsening shortage of homes, the only real solution is to increase the number of homes.
“With more pressure from certain quarters to stop new rental homes being built, policymakers must hold their nerve.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.