There were fewer properties available to rent across Ireland in May 2015 than at any point since 2006, according to the latest quarterly Rental Report by Daft.ie.

The report found that there were just 4,300 properties available to rent nationwide in early May 2015, compared to 7,200 on the same day a year previously. The figure for May 1 is the lowest since the series was started in January 2006; the highest was in mid-2009, when there were almost 24,000 properties available to rent nationwide.

Regarding rental prices, year-on-year rental inflation in Ireland continued to ease slightly in Q1 2015. The national average rent between January and March was just over €960. That’s 8.2% higher than at the same point last year however, it is down from the 10.4% increase in mid-2014. This national trend is being driven by a slowdown in rent inflation in Dublin, which has eased from almost 17% in April 2014 to 7% in April 2015. This has been offset by an increase in inflation in Dublin’s commuter counties, which has risen from 7.6% to 14% during the same period.

In the other city centres, rents continue to rise but at a slightly slower pace. In Cork city, rents are 7.5% higher than a year ago, similar to the increase seen in Galway at 7.4%. In Limerick, rents have risen by 6.8% in a year, while in Waterford city rental inflation was 5.6%.