Donegal rental prices up 83% since before the Covid-19 pandemic

Rental prices in Donegal are up 83% in just over four years, according to latest figures.

The Daft.ie Rental Price Report Q2 2024 says the average listed rent in the county is now €1,185, up 83% from the level prevailing when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred in March 2020.

In Donegal, market rents were on average 10.1% higher in the second quarter of 2024 than a year previously.

The average price of a one-bed apartment in Donegal is now €735 per month; a two-bed house is €874, a three-bed house is €1,021, with a four-bed house €1,107 and a five-bed house €1,189.

Nationwide, market rents rose by an average of 2% in the second quarter of 2024. This marks the 14th consecutive quarter in which rents nationwide have increased and the 45th time in the last 48 quarters.

The average open-market rent nationwide in the second quarter of the year was €1,922 per month, up 7.3% year-on-year and 41% higher than before the outbreak of Covid.

As has consistently been the case in recent years, availability on the rental market remains extremely tight. On August 1, there were just over 2,200 homes available to rent across the country, effectively unchanged on the same date a year previously and half the 2015-2019 average of 4,400.

“Ideally, more than a decade into a rental housing shortage, we would be talking about the gradual spread of the solution, rather than a return to the core problem. The solution is new supply of market rental homes, in large volumes, in each and every rental market in the country."

Commenting on the report, Ronan Lyons, Associate Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report said: “Between mid-2022 and mid-2023, a slow-down in inflation in open-market rents occurred, driven by Dublin and in particular by the construction of significant numbers of new rental homes in the Dublin area. However, as seen by very rates of inflation in market rents in the other cities, this was limited to the capital, where new supply was concentrated.

“This most recent report suggests that, even in Dublin, improvement in the availability of rental homes is stalling. Without new rental supply, it is likely that future pressure on rents will be upward, further straining affordability for those on regular incomes. It remains incumbent on policymakers to first develop a thorough understanding of rental supply dynamics and second devise a detailed plan on dramatically increasing rental supply, in all major rental markets, over the coming years.”