As of 2024, Monaghan has the fewest homes available to rent or buy in Ireland. According to a report by Savills Ireland, Monaghan offers only 2.4 rental properties per 10,000 people, resulting in just 16 properties available for rent in the entire county. This is the lowest availability of rental properties in Ireland. When it comes to homes for sale, Monaghan also ranks the lowest, with only 81 properties available, equating to 12.2 homes per 10,000 people.
Following Monaghan, Roscommon, Donegal, and Tipperary have the next lowest availability of rental properties, with 2.5, 3.3, and 3.5 homes per 10,000 people, respectively. Meanwhile, counties such as Meath, Kildare, and Carlow also have limited properties for sale, with Meath having 13.4 homes for sale per 10,000 people, Kildare 14.3, and Carlow 17.7.
Greater flexibility in post-pandemic working patterns may also have induced more people to purchase outside Dublin, but within commutable distance to their workplace in the capital. Motivations for this could include cheaper prices as well as a desire to return to, or live closer to, their home county.
The exception to this is Wicklow, which has 288 homes for sale per 100,000, placing it 20th in the list.
In contrast, Dublin has a significantly higher number of properties available to rent or buy, with 2,290 properties for rent or share, more than the rest of the country combined. However, this is still a relatively low figure given Dublin’s population and the high demand for housing in the capital.
Overall, there is a nationwide shortage of housing stock, particularly in rural areas and smaller counties where new developments are scarce, and rental properties are in short supply. The lack of new apartment developments outside of Dublin and the exodus of landlords from the rental market have compounded the issue.
