RENTS HAVE fallen to their lowest level in a decade, falling more than 18 per cent in the past year, a new property survey revealed yesterday.

A report from housing website Daft.ie found the average rent now stands at €775 a month. Urban areas have been hardest hit.

The Dublin rental market has seen reductions of 5 per cent in the past three months, and is now lower than in the first quarter of 2000. In the city centre, rents have fallen 26.1 per cent from their peak and 21.3 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2008, at an average of €924 per month.

Outside Dublin, rents in cities have fallen 19.5 per cent from the peak. The one city to buck the trend is Galway, where rents are static, showing a small increase of 0.4 per cent for the quarter. The city has seen rents fall 15.6 per cent from peak values.

This compares to Cork, where rents have fallen 21.5 per cent from their peak; Limerick, which has seen a 21.8 per cent fall; and Waterford, which has declined 19 per cent.

The report found changing demographic patterns were partly responsible for the declines.

"Net outward migration has begun, with 65,100 people leaving the country from April 2008 to April 2009," the report said.

"This change in migration may pose challenges to the rental market over the medium term. The rapid increase in birth rate may result in new sources of demand as households become first-time buyers, trade up or withdraw rental rooms from the market."

NCB Research said the one positive to take from the data was the fall in the stock of properties available for rent, which decreased from a peak in August of 24,000 to approximately 22,000.

"This stems from the fact that commencements have been sharply curtailed to an annualised rate of 7,000 units, down from 87,000 at the peak," the research note said. - (Additional reporting, PA)