RESIDENTIAL INVESTORS are having a hard time of it. Already under pressure from falling rents, now there’s a scarcity of tenants – a reverse of the previous market dynamic of too many tenants chasing too few properties.

Now, an oversupply of accommodation is proving a bonanza to this week’s incoming crop of students. Thousands of young people, who last year were doing Leaving Cert economics, are learning the real economics of the market place, by picking and choosing – and then demanding reductions even further below the already discounted rents.

In most cases, landlords of quality accommodation are making their apartments available at a loss, discounting by 30 per cent on rental revenue of, say, two years ago. Investors who bought eight years ago are facing losses on their initial investment due to the high prices paid during the boom.

Add this month’s €200 “registration fee” per property and increased service charges – responding to increased vandalism of vacant properties – and one can see why in a few years there may be a shortage of affordable rented accommodation in urban areas.

Then, of course, there will be another series of panic measures to encourage landlords and investors back into residential properties. Proving once again that property values are essentially cyclical. Hang in there.