Daft.

ie Rental Report – 2008 in Review

February 2009

Contact: Ronan Lyons, Economist, Daft.ie

ronan.lyons@daft.ie
 Rental prices – headlines

 The average rent nationwide in January 2009 was €885,

compared to a peak of €1,017 a year earlier
 Rents are now at levels similar to Q2 06
 Rents are about 10% above their previous trough of Q1 04
 Rents fell 11.6% over the course of 2008
 This compares with rises of 9.3% during 2006 and 6.3%
during 2007
 Rents fell 6.0% during Q4, compared to falls of 2.1% in Q2
and Q3
 Rents have now fallen for eleven consecutive months
 National trends in rents, 2002-2009
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
105

100

95
2007 = 100

90 Jan
88.5
85

80

75
Daft.ie national rent index
70
'02 A J O '03 A J O '04 A J O '05 A J O '06 A J O '07 A J O '08 A J O '09

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Quarterly changes in rents nationwide
2006 2007 2008
6%

4%

2%

0%
-2%

-4%
-6% Quarterly change
in national rents
-8%
2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Trends in rents by region, 2006-2009
2006 2007 2008
105
Dublin
Other cities
Rest-of-country
100
2007 = 100

95

90

85

80
'06 F M A M J J A S O N D '07 F M A M J J A S O N D '08 F M A M J J A S O N D '09

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Quarterly changes in asking prices, by region
2006 2007 2008
6%

4%

2%

0%
-2%

-4%
-6%
Dublin Other Cities Rest of country
-8%
2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Rental stock and flow – headlines

 Stock of properties available to rent tops 20,000

 About four times the typical level of 5,000-6,000

 Volume of properties traded has more than doubled since

2007
 Gap between properties entering market and those exiting
market persistent and, in Q4 2008, large

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Rental market stock, inflow and outflow

25000
Stock Inflow Outflow*
20000

15000

10000

5000

0
2007 Apr Jul Oct 2008 Apr Jul Oct 2009

* Outflow calculated as residual difference between

inflow and change in stock

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Stock of Rental Properties, by region

8000
Dublin Leinster Munster Conn-Ulst
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2007 Apr Jul Oct 2008 Apr Jul Oct 2009

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Irish property market yields – headlines

 Overall national average yield remains low, at 3.4%

 This is above the same figure for a year previous (3.17%)
 Due to ECB action, yields will soon be back above the cost
of borrowing but are unlikely to rise in 2009

 Expected yields are higher in urban areas

 Highest yields are in Dublin City Centre (4.4%), West
Dublin (4.3%) and South Dublin city (4.2%)
 Lowest yields are in West Leinster and Connacht/Ulster –
including Galway city (3.2%)

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Expected Yields around the country

5.5%

5.0%

4.5%

4.0%

3.5%

3.0%
Dublin Other Cities
2.5%
Rest-of-country ECB +1%
2.0%
2006 2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007 2007 2008 2008 2008 2008
q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4 q1 q2 q3 q4

Ireland's Biggest Property Website Feb 21, 2009

 Notes on methodology and sample size

 Analysis of properties listed for rent, between one and

five bedrooms, on daft.ie
 Q4 2008 sample: 58,565 2008 total sample: 196,581
 Rents are calculated based on hedonic price regressions,
across the following dimensions:
 16 regional markets (6 Dublin, 4 other cities, 4 ROC),
interacted each with 4 property types, 5 bedroom numbers,
11 bedroom-bathroom combinations
 17 bedroom type variables (single, double and twin)
 10 further property attributes (e.g. garden, dishwasher)
 Contact details and disclaimer

 For more, contact Ronan Lyons (ronan@daft.ie)

 Disclaimer
 The Daft.ie Report is prepared from information that we believe is
collated with care, but we do not make any statement as to its accuracy
or completeness
 We reserve the right to vary our methodology and to edit or discontinue
the indices, snapshots or analysis at any time for regulatory or other
reasons
 Persons seeking to place reliance on any information contained in this
report for their own or third party commercial purposes do so at their
own risk