Hard times for landlords as rental prices here plummet

What’s good news for househunters is rarely good news for home owners and the same holds through in the rental sector, as the first ever national rent index, released last week by the Private Rental Tenancies Board (PRTB), shows.

Landlords in Westmeath have seen the rents they receive plummet by as much €150 per month, more or less regardless of type, in the last five years.

The fall in rents is occurring despite claims as recently as last month at a meeting of Westmeath County Council, that there is a shortage of decent private rental accommodation available.

The PRTB figures show that in 2008, the average rent paid for all properties in Westmeath was €658.25, but by last year, that figure had fallen to as low as €528.95.

In 2008, the properties commanding the best rents in Westmeath were semi-detached houses, which fetched an average of €697.65 monthly. In 2012, the average rent was down to just €555.30.

Apartment rents have fallen too, albeit not so sharply, with a 2008 high of €613.52 looking highly attractive against the 2012 rent of €500.30.
In Mullingar, the average rent paid in 2008 was €654.98, last year, it was just €512.77.

Incredibly, it seems now, semi-detached houses were fetching an average rent of €706.58 in 2008, down last year to €566.80.
Detached houses in 2008 could fetch around €696.66 in rent, last year, just €555.06; terraced houses are down from €667.92 to €446.48; and apartments down from €594.16 to €446.48.