Spike in demand sees rental homes snapped up in days

Rental properties in Galway City are being snapped up in a matter of days, because of a shortage of good quality homes available for rent.

Local letting agents have reported a surprise spike in demand in recent months – in one instance, a three-bed house in Knocknacarra was re-let on the same day it was vacated.

Michael Fahy (Snr) of City Property Services told Tribune Property: “There has been a noticeable increase in demand for rental properties in Galway of late, compounded by additional property buyers being held back by restrictive bank lending, increasing employment and general increase in population.

“There has been a surprise spike in queries in recent months and rental properties are being snapped up within days of becoming available. We expect that rising demand for rental properties will continue for the foreseeable future but it can still be a tough business,” said Mr Fahy.

He described the current level of activity in the rental market as “incredible”, particularly in a time of huge pressure on the economy.

“We are inundated with renters looking for good quality accommodation in the city centre and the surrounding suburban areas. In the last 2 weeks, we have let 12 properties . . . that would have been 50 if we had the stock.

“We rented a three-bed house recently on the Knocknacarra Road and it rented on the same day as the old tenant vacated. Our advert on Daft.ie had over 1,000 hits for that house alone.

“That’s incredible activity for the economic times we are in – we have had to increase our staff to eight just to keep up with the demand.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.