Average rents in newly registered tenancies continued to rise in the first three months of the year, the latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) suggest.
The average rent stood at €1,544 per month, the figures show, which represented an increase of almost 9% in the year or 2.5% compared to the final quarter of last year.
In compiling the report, the RTB examined actual rents paid under 14,085 private tenancies which were newly registered with the board in the three-month period.
The purpose of the Rent Index is to measure rental price developments faced by those taking up new tenancies in the private rental sector.
The index is not designed to capture rents being paid by existing tenants.
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The average rent for new tenancies in Dublin stood at €2,102 per month in the three-month period.
In the Greater Dublin Area - excluding the capital itself - the average came in at €1,530 while it was €1,133 outside of the GDA.
There were large variations in the rest of the country with the average rent in Cork City standing at €1,490.
Sixteen counties had standardised average rents in new tenancies above €1,000 per month, the report shows.
"It is important to note that these results are for new tenancies only and therefore these insights relate to only a proportion of the overall private rental sector in Ireland," RTB Director Niall Byrne pointed out.
Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area accounted for just over half of all new tenancy agreements registered in the first three months.
Nationally, just over 58% of all new tenancies related to apartments.
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien has designated new Rent Pressure Zones in Ennis, Kilkenny county, Limerick city and county, and Waterford city and county.
In these zones, a landlord is permitted to raise the rent once in twelve months, capped at 2%.
'Real impact' for renters - Threshold
Housing charity said the figures show that rents are continuing to climb, albeit at a slower rate.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Advocacy Manager Ann-Marie O'Reilly said: "While overall it indicates some moderation, year on year, the increases are moderating. These are still on high-base rents.
"For example, that national increase, that equals €120 more on a new tenant tenancy compared to what a renter would have been paying the previous year on a new tenancy, and that is real money coming out of people's pockets.
"It is really putting pressure on people, so overall, whether it is those 9% national figure or those higher figures ... these are having a real impact on renters."
Ms O'Reilly said the charity is seeing "what we call defacto, deregulated rents between tenancies where some landlords do take it as an opportunity to increase the rent even though it may not be lawfully permitted.
"If a property has been vacant for two years, it can be lawfully set at market rent" which is defined as "what somebody essentially is willing to pay," she added.
