Property investors are facing challenging times as rental yields are continuing to fall, according to a report by online property site Daft.ie.
The quarterly report on the property market finds that while yields have stabilised following two years of decline, the growth predicted in the first quarter of 2005 has failed to materialise.
Rents are still 15 per cent lower than the highs of 2002 and as house prices continue to rise this means that rental yields are falling.
The report provides an analysis of average rents, time to let and vacancy periods across the country including a breakdown by postcode in the Dublin market.
In Dublin, the northside area of Howth has become more expensive than its southside upmarket enclave Dalkey, with rent in Howth increasing by 13.4 per cent versus a fall of 4.2 per cent in Dalkey.
Other northside areas such as the IFSC, Fairview and Glasnevin also saw above average growth over the last year. The lowest rents in Dublin are in West Dublin (Lucan, Blanchardstown, Clonsilla, Clonee, City West), while Dublin 4 remains the most expensive place to live.
Regarding time to let, Dublin 6 (Rathgar, Rathmines, Ranelagh) has overtaken Dublin 2 as the easiest place to let with an average time to let of 7.3 days versus 8.4 days.
Rooms in shared accommodation are let 33 per cent fastest than rental properties indicating a strong requirement by householders to meet monthly mortgage payments.
Average rent for both Cork and Galway is 20-30 per cent cheaper than Dublin with Cork rents slightly higher than Galway and a shorter time to let period of 12.4 versus 16.2 days.
Unlike the rest of the country, rent in Limerick has yet to experience any recovery with rents still falling after three years of steady decline.