According to a recent report from Daft.ie rental prices across Dublin have fallen on average 3% despite the rest of the country seeing a rise.
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, this is mainly due to the current CoronaVirus restrictions and the fact that so many of us are now working from home and have no need to pay premium rates to be closer to work.
The office is now wherever you want it to be, once you’re no more than 5 km from home that is. Inevitably we will see a shift in prices further afield as people look to the green open spaces and privacy afforded by living outside of the city.
That’s not to say the city’s prices won’t recover. With vaccination programs now well underway around the world, one would hope to see a return to free movement this year and we will then see things return to normal, hopefully. There will surely be a lasting effect on the market but exactly what that will be only time will tell.
Will Prices Keep Falling?
As I peer into my crystal ball I can see that no, prices will actually gain 50% on their current position and tax relief will be doubled and then… let’s get real.. Who knows is the appropriate answer here.
There is certainly a case to be made for perhaps seeing another percentage point or two knocked off Dublin’s rents due to the shifting work environment, but as we’ve said before, the cause of Ireland’s (in particular Dublin’s) high rental costs has always been demand far outweighing supply. This isn’t forecast to be resolved for another decade at least. Given this fact, it is reasonable to assume that prices will continue to rise once a return to relative normality is achieved and the current work from home trend fizzles out.
We have discussed before the possible consequences of more and more people opting to work from home and no longer commute to city centres, but since then I get the feeling from a lot of colleagues and friends, that a return to the office is desirable as soon as possible. If this is the case and we are hopefully to see at least the construction industry back in full swing by early March, we should hope that by the end of the year we will see a rise in Dublin’s rents again as the hospitality and entertainment sectors open up and being in the city is again desirable.
