New figures show rents have fallen in Ireland for the first time in more than seven years.

The average national rent is now €1,402 a month, according to statistics compiled by Daft.ie.

It also says there are 10% more homes for rent on February 1st than a year previously.

While Dublin rents are up 3.5% - the slowest rate of increase since 2008.

Source: Daft.ie

Other rents fell marginally, by 0.1%, in the final three months of 2019 - the first time since mid-2012 that rents have not risen quarter-on-quarter.

Daft says the late-2019 trends differ across urban and rural parts of the market.

Average rents, and year-on-year change, 2019 Q4

• Dublin: €2,052, up 3.5%
• Cork: €1,386, up 5.5%
• Galway: €1,309, up 5.6%
• Limerick: €1,217, up 3.9%
• Waterford: €1,010, up 4.3%
• Rest of the country: €993, up 4.6%

In Dublin, Cork and Galway cities rents rose between September and December - while outside the major cities, rents fell on average.

Year-on-year trends are more similar.

Compared to the end of 2018, rents in Dublin at the end of 2019 were 3.5% higher and in Cork and Galway were 5.5% higher.

Source: Daft.ie

In Limerick and Waterford cities, rents were 3.9% and 4.3% higher respectively than a year ago.

Outside the cities, rents were 4.7% higher in late 2019 than a year previously.

The number of homes available to rent nationwide continues to rise, albeit from a very low base.

There were 3,543 properties available to rent across the country in February 1st - up 10% from the 3,216 available the same date a year ago.

Source: Daft.ie

While this marks the 17th time in the last 19 months that availability has improved year-on-year, the number of rental homes on the market is still down 80% from its 2009 peak.

Economist Ronan Lyons is author of the Daft report: "With the election of a new government, housing - and in particular the rental sector - are likely to be key parts of the new government's priorities.

"Despite the desire for a quick fix, such as rent freezes, no such quick fix exists.

"By worsening insider-outsider dynamics, rent freezes are likely to further harm those most affected by the shortage of accommodation.

"And, if somehow applied to newly-built rental homes, rent controls could prove calamitous for a country that desperately needs new rental homes but has very high construction costs."