Rents, having been stagnant for most of the Q4, powered ahead by 1.6% in December. Quite a significant bump considering the usual inactivity of the rental market in December.
cso.ie/releasespublications/ … nt/pic.pdf
Go to page 7, Table 4
Where do they get their figures cause this is just not what I’m seeing at all. In fact even if rents were on an upward trend (and they are not) then an increase like this in December is simply defying gravity. December is a dead month for rentals. Am I right Mr A?
I think in connection with household price inflation they have a large panel of families whose expenditure they track.
I personally hold the view that the usual suspects are being extremely selective and creative with their rental statistics for the past while. One would not need to be a genius to work out that with the huge amounts of unsold properties out there the VI’s need to spin the idea that there is a shortage of rental accomodation thus pushing up rents. The same suspects that inflated the price boom now need to do the same with rents due to the gravy train shuddering to a halt. I feel the rents are rising mith will be blown out of the water soon though once more of the unsold properties hit the market in spring this year and the inevitable scramble to rent them out.
Funny, no one was incredulous of CSO statistics when they were conforming to a bearish out-look. Example, the number of vacant homes in Ireland as per Census 2006.
Indeed, there was even a thread a few months back trumpeting the CPI rental figures when they were showing a decline. Strange that 
Momentum, of course they go up and they may keep going up as less people buy houses. The increase in rental supply took off in October, we don’t know yet what the time lag is until they start falling.
Little activity in December, smaller base, easier to get an increase…
There’s a possibility…
Same way that better quality houses selling is firming up the overall percentage drop because the lesser quality stock doesn’t get featured in the stats…