Cork and Kerry rental market saw supply shock greater than during pandemic
The KerrymanNew figures show Munster's rental markets saw drops in supply akin to the pandemic years in 2025 as stricter rental rules come into effect next month.
The number of rooms available for rental outside of cities showed a single drop in mid-2025 larger than any during the pandemic, closing the year down over 25pc.
Concerns have been raised previously by local councillors about the recent increase of termination notices handed to renters as landlords look to sell their properties.
In light of more restrictive rental laws, many smaller landlords are now seeing the market conditions as unviable while others wait to till March to raise rents on new leases.
Daft.ie's annual report for 2025 shows a stark change in the figures for both home and room rentals suggesting adjustment to new conditions.
The stock of room rentals in Munster showed historic levels of volatility, with a single drop greater than any seen in the pandemic.
Rooms to rent were down 27pc since last year despite having recovered somewhat in January.
While the availability of rooms still remains around 40pc higher than the 2015-2019 average, the number of homes to rent are now only a one-third of the 2015-2019 average (66pc).
In fact, rental homes hit a historic low in 2025, bucking an upward trend in recent years and closing January down 20pc year-on-year.
The availability of rentals generally increases towards the year end, but last year home rental numbers rose only around half of what has been typical in post-pandemic years.
This overall contraction is even more stark when considering homes typically have multiple residents.
Jonathan Greene, director at Property Partners Gallivan in Killarney, said the market volatility was spurring on landlord selling which was already at a significant volume in the town.
From March 1, rental agreements will at minimum be six-year tenancies and landlords will be unable to put their properties on the market without tenants being left in situ.
“I'd say 70pc of our sales in the last six months of them have been properties that were previously on the rental market and I think that trend is going to continue for the first six months of this year,” said Mr Greene.
“There’s fear with landlords that this government could change their mind in 12 months’ time again and affect the whole market. Whatever they're trying to create, whether it's the stable markets or more supply, all this new legislation is having the opposite effect.
“Since these rent pressure zones came in, they're interfering with laws and changes to legislation regularly. They're frightening landlords. Over 80% of landlords are one or two property owners and are taxed over 50% on rental income.
“So, do I expect rents to continue to rise? Definitely. And where do I see the people that are on lower rent then? Unfortunately, they're the ones that are likely to receive termination notices as their landlord sells their property.”
Paul Stephenson at the Tralee-based real estate agency, Sherry Fitzgerald Stephenson Crean, put the contraction in supply down to landlords waiting for March to raise rents.
He argued expired leases were not being renewed and supply would loosen next month as landlords became able to introduce new leases at market rates.