Rents hit all-time high

[ballot stuffer]

Quick everybody....buy to let, buy to let.... Properties a sound investment again.

This is exactly what happened in England in the early 90's and than again at the end of the decade.

I can understand there are people who invested heavily in property and are desperate to convince themselves that everything is fine but the simple truth is houses are not shifting. People are not buying, the market is screwed. Recession is the word on everybody’s lips.

Rent is not going up either. Not one of my friends has had their rent increased. Not one and some live in D4.

I'm renting in Blackrock. In november I knocked €200 a month off the advertised rent without trying. Through the wonder of google cache I found out the the house was first advertised at €200 above the initial rent so I saved €400 a month.

This was around the time the papers were crying out that rent was going crazy. My arse it was

[Leftfemme22]

Listen folks... this is a crash and it will behave in exactly the same manner as every other crash on the planet has behaved. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

Every conceivable economic factor is working against the property market at the moment. The economy is in decline, immigrants are going home, the surplus housing stock (renting sector incl.) is enormous and getting bigger with the migrants leaving, credit is getting more expensive, the lenders have curbed their lending criteria significantly, houses are still up to 40% over-valued, rents have plateaud and will drop in line with the surplus apartments coming on line.

A crash feeds itself, always has, always does. To even consider buying property in this climate is foolish in the extreme.

[freedomlover]

The USI don't seem to share the views of some here that the CSO are wrong and that rents are actually falling. This is from today's RTE web site:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0117/students.html

"USI warns of student housing crisis."

"The Union of Students in Ireland has renewed its call for the setting up of a task force on student accommodation. It says action is needed due to the growing gap between the student grant and the cost of renting."

Rising rents don't seem to tie in with claims that there is a large surplus of empty property or that vast numbers of immigrants are heading home. Rather, they would seem to support the view that there is a huge demand for accomodation in Ireland, thanks to population growth five times the EU average (2.5% a year in Ireland, 0.5% a year in the EU).

The most likely explanation for the combination of falling house prices and rising rents is that large numbers of people are holding back from buying because they've been told ad nauseum in the past year that they'll be able to buy the same property for anything up to 50% less in a year or so's time. However, while waiting for this most unlikely scale of house price crash to occur, they have to live somewhere in the meantime, hence they rent.

[Leftfemme22]

The Union of Students in Ireland has renewed its call for the setting up of a task force on student accommodation. It says action is needed due to the growing gap between the student grant and the cost of renting.

Freedomlover.

Students are hardly a sought after tenancy group. In fact many put property on the rental market with a distinct ban on Students. A professional single/couple have no problem renting at the moment. This is borne out by experience and the experience of my peers.

Rents aren't rising. The CSO figures haven't and don't tally with reality on the ground. This has been the case for some time now.

Amen

[expat girl]

Students are hardly a sought after tenancy group. In fact many put property on the rental market with a distinct ban on Students. A professional single/couple have no problem renting at the moment. This is borne out by experience and the experience of my peers.

Rents aren't rising. The CSO figures haven't and don't tally with reality on the ground. This has been the case for some time now.

Amen

You're right about the students... I had problems getting anywhere to rent, but I was looking for a 3 bed family home and my guess is that a couple with toddlers is not what people want to rent to either. Even if the parents are so called professionals. But I was usually told the place I wanted to look at was gone before I even got to mentioning the toddlers!!!

I'd agree about holding off buying, except that there doesn't seem to be a point in doing that if you need a home to live in, buying is the same price as the rent, and we can bang as many holes in the walls to hang our pictures as we want.... needless to say, we don't need to move on in a hurry either, or I wouldn't even consider it. Got a good discount though!!!

The sales market was hilarious.... only people who have emigrated or exec sales are what's on the market at the moment, only those who HAVE to sell are selling. But I am surprised more of these places are not ending up for rent.

Re people being asked for rent raises though, it was my understanding that rents were raised between tenants rather than during a long established let (unless it was very long, or the rental market was really going bananas)

[Aindriu]

[I had problems getting anywhere to rent, but I was looking for a 3 bed family home and my guess is that a couple with toddlers is not what people want to rent to either. Even if the parents are so called professionals. But I was usually told the place I wanted to look at was gone before I even got to mentioning the toddlers!!!

A stupid approach by the letters. Do they want responsible tenants or not?

[Leftfemme22]

[I had problems getting anywhere to rent, but I was looking for a 3 bed family home and my guess is that a couple with toddlers is not what people want to rent to either. Even if the parents are so called professionals. But I was usually told the place I wanted to look at was gone before I even got to mentioning the toddlers!!!

A stupid approach by the letters. Do they want responsible tenants or not?

It would seem to be the exception rather than the rule. If letters are anti-family, I nor anyone I know who rents has come across it.