MONAGHAN IS THE lowest ranking county in Ireland when it comes to the number of homes available for sale or rent, according to new analysis by property consultants Savills. 

Monaghan has 81 homes for sale, or 12.2 per 10,000 people while there are only 16 homes for rent in the county, or 2.4 per 10,000 people. 

Dublin ranked 8th worst for buying but least difficult for renting from an availability point of view.

The figures are based on analysis of listings on the property website Daft.ie conducted in mid-August. 

The county with the most second-hand homes for sale is Leitrim, followed by Roscommon and then Mayo, while Dublin has the most homes available to rent, followed by Carlow and Limerick. 

At  a national level, the contrast between renting and buying options is significant. There are just 5.9 homes for rent or sharing per 10,000 people compared to 24.2 for sale.

“The starkest finding of this analysis is the shortage of rental stock across the country and it is not clear how this issue is going to be resolved,” said Savills director of research John Ring. 

“Apartment development, the traditional channel by which rental stock has been delivered historically, is unviable in most locations outside of Dublin, with no new apartment delivery of scale taking place since the crash,” he said.

“Furthermore, lending for buy-to-let investment is miniscule, while many existing landlords are exiting the market.

“Lastly, the model of developing housing estates for rental has been effectively banned via prohibitive stamp duty on these transactions. The question therefore arises, what is the plan for delivering private rented stock across the country?”