Irish Rental Report Q3 2025 | Daft.ie

Ronan Lyons, Economist

12th Nov 2025

The rise of the volume of room rentals over the last decade - as well as their price - is another indicator of the significant market pressure

This revamped Daft.ie Rental Report presented updated indices of market rents ‐ nationally and for each of five main regions around the country ‐ at monthly frequency for over two decades. In addition to the indices and snapshots of market rents for full properties, we have added measures for room rents also ‐ an increasingly important way for people to find somewhere to live.

The figure below shows the ratio of the number of room rentals to full property rentals ‐ for both Dublin and the rest of the country ‐ since the start of 2015, using a 12-month rolling total.

Ratio Of Room Rentals To Full Property Rentals

In Dublin, that ratio has been oscillating around 1 over the last decade. When market pressure was at its greatest ‐ in 2017/2018 and again in 2022/2023 ‐ room rents made up more than half of all rental ads in the capital. As new supply came on stream (or as lockdowns hit), that ratio fell.

Outside Dublin, the ratio of room rentals to property rentals rose sharply from 2015 to 2019 and especially 2022-2024. By 2024, there were as many room rentals outside Dublin as property rentals, an extraordinary change in market dynamics in just a few years.

In Dublin and elsewhere, that ratio has fallen back a little in the last year ‐ time will tell whether that signifies reduced market pressures.

While the recent moderation in rental inflation is welcome, very tight availability means that future upward pressure on rents is likely.

Dublin continues to enjoy less upward pressure on rents than elsewhere in the country. This is a trend that started in 2023, as new rental supply started to come on stream in the capital ‐ but not elsewhere. During 2022, market rents in Dublin rose by 12.6% compared to a national average of 13%.

However in 2023 (0.4%) and in 2024 (2.2%), rents in the capital rose by very little compared to other parts of the country ‐ with rents increasing at double-digit rates in 2023 outside Dublin and by above 5% in 2024.

That trend continues, with inflation of 2.7% in the year to September in Dublin, compared to 10% in the four other cities (on average) and over 5% in the rest of the country.

The graph below shows just how acute the pressure has been on market rents since the outbreak of the covid pandemic in early 2020 compared to before ‐ whether for full properties or for rooms, and especially outside Dublin, rents have increased at record rates in the 2020s.

Average Annual Change In Market Rents

Nationally, an inflation rate of 4.3% in market rents in September is close to the average of 2024 and 2025. While it's a small win, steady inflation below 5% is ‐ given recent increases ‐ an improvement.

However, supply remains tight ‐ and indeed worsening, with one quarter fewer homes available to rent on November 1 than a year before. Thus upward pressure on rents is likely to remain.