A chronic shortage of properties has pushed rents to their highest ever level.
The latest Daft.ie report shows that only 716 homes were available to rent in the entire country on the 1st of August, just 292 of those were in Dublin, the lowest ever on record.
That prompted a 12.6% rise in rental prices in the second three months of this year when compared to last year, the biggest jump since the Daft report began 16 years ago.
Average rents nationally are now €1,618 per month, rising to €2,170 in Dublin.
As of this morning, there are just 52 properties to rent in the region on the rental website.
There are 6 in Carlow, 22 in Wexford, 10 in Waterford, 13 in Tipperary and just 1 in Kilkenny.
The average price of a rental property in the five counties is €1,188.60
The Daft.ie report found: "Rents in Leinster's south-eastern counties rose 13.2% year-on-year, reflecting very low availability - just 29 homes were available to rent on August 1, down 44% on the same date a year ago.
In Kilkenny, market rents were on average 11% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1,218, up 104% from its lowest point.
In Wexford, market rents were on average 14.7% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1,120, up 97% from its lowest point.
In Carlow, market rents were on average 12.8% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1221, up 99% from its lowest point.
In Waterford City, rents have risen by 17.1% in the last year and the average rent is now €1,312. In the rest of Waterford, market rents were on average 16.5% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1,295, up 125% from its lowest point.
In Tippeary, market rents were on average 12.3% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than a year previously. The average listed rent is now €1089.
Economist and author of the Daft.ie report Ronan Lyons says the shortage of supply will take years to address.
"The target here has to be to bring rents back down to affordable levels.
"When you look nationally rents are now 60% above their Celtic Tiger peak and 100% above where they were about 10 years ago
"It's no longer a case of getting them to level off, we should be actively trying to bring rents down."
