Mayo residential rental costs soar

Residential rents continue to soar in Mayo with the latest figures from property website Daft.ie revealing that the typical open-market rent of a three-bedroom house in the county is €1,549.

Rental costs in Mayo were on average 9% higher than a year ago, according to Daft.ie's Rental Price Report Q2 2026.

Nationally, market rents rose by 1.4% between March and June. This is a significant slowdown from the record 4.4% increase in the first quarter and slightly below the average quarterly increase seen over the last decade. The average market rent for a two-bedroom apartment nationwide is now €2,204 per month, with market rents 42% above their pre-Covid levels and 78% higher than ten years ago.

Inflation remains high in the four major cities outside Dublin. The report shows that market rents in the second quarter were 13% higher year-on-year in Galway city, 12% higher in Cork, up 11% in Limerick. The rate in Waterford city, at 5.5%, was comparable to that seen in Dublin, where market rents in June were 6.5% higher than a year before. Outside the cities, annual inflation in open-market rents was between 9% and 10% across Leinster, Munster and Connacht-Ulster.

There were just under 2,400 homes available to rent nationwide on August 1st. This is an increase of 5% on the same date a year earlier but masks a sharp divide: availability in Dublin fell by 18% over the year, to fewer than 1,150 homes, while across the rest of the country it rose by 40%. Across the country, availability remains well below pre-pandemic norms, when there were typically over 4,300 homes to rent at any one time.

The report's author, Ronan Lyons, Professor in Economics at Trinity College Dublin, said:

“The second quarter offers a clear read on the impact of the new rent control system. It suggests that the surge in rents in early 2026 was a one-off reset rather than the start of a new trend. Having risen by a record 4.4% in the first quarter, market rents rose by just 1.4% between March and June. And that adjustment appears to be largely complete in major cities, even if it is still working its way through the rest of the country.

"On supply, the rebound in listings since March has persisted. But it is in effect merely offsetting the earlier delay rather than adding new supply. Over the past twelve months, the number of homes listed to rent was effectively unchanged on the previous year.

Taking a step back, the latest report highlights an important shift in the market. The additional cost of renting in Dublin, relative to the rest of the country, has fallen to its lowest level on record. This has happened even as rents in Dublin have continued to rise, with rents in the city one quarter above their pre-Covid level. Rents elsewhere have risen far faster, however: by 90% in Connacht-Ulster and 75% in Munster in six years. Rental scarcity is a national problem, and measures to bring forward new market rental supply need to be capable of working outside Dublin.”