Dublin Suburbs Where Buying Now Beats Renting: New Data Upends Market Calculus

It’s officially cheaper to buy than rent in key Dublin suburbs for the first time since 2017, with new Savills data showing mortgage repayments now undercutting local rents by as much as €310 a month on average in Tallaght and Lucan.

The balance between rents and mortgage payments is tipping just as Dublin’s rental market hits fresh highs this summer. Shrunken supply and a rush of returning expatriates have driven average two-bedroom apartment rents in the greater city area to €2,280 a month in June, according to Daft.ie. Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s ongoing mortgage measures allow first-time buyers to borrow up to four times their income — enough to bridge the deposit-rent gap for many employed Dubliners.

Buyers Outpace Renters in Tallaght, Lucan

In practical terms, the numbers tell a sharp story. On High Street in Tallaght, a standard two-bedroom apartment currently fetches €2,220 a month in rent, according to the latest data from Sherry FitzGerald. A similar property purchased for €328,000 with a 10% deposit and a 30-year fixed mortgage at 3.8% now means monthly repayments land nearer to €1,910, before factoring in annual property tax and service charges. Lucan, with its steady commuter traffic and proximity to Griffeen Valley Park, tells a similar tale: here, typical mortgage repayments on an entry-level family home sit close to €1,990 per month — almost €250 below prevailing rents for the same homes listed by agents on Main Street.

The affordability reversal is most evident in neighbourhoods just outside the M50 but still served by Luas or regular Dublin Bus links. According to Eoin O’Kelly, an independent property analyst who tracks price-to-rent ratios in the city, “The greatest crossover is now in Dublin 24 and Dublin 22, but we’re also seeing signs in parts of Clondalkin, with house purchases on Monastery Road, for example, beating local rents by nearly €200 monthly when bought with a standard-family mortgage.”

What the Data Shows — And What’s Next

The Daft.ie Q2 2026 Rental Report backs up the trend, noting that average advertised rents in Dublin have climbed 6% year-on-year as of June, while sale prices have inched up just 1.8% citywide since January. Rising interest rates have slowed investor appetite, putting a lid on sale prices in several lower-priced outer suburbs. Meanwhile, housing supply boosts — like the 95 new units completed in Citywest’s Blackthorn Square development in April, and 43 homes handed over under Dublin City Council’s affordable purchase scheme in Castleknock — are giving prospective buyers more viable options than in years past.

All this means the math, at least in outer west and southwest Dublin, has finally shifted in buyers’ favour for those able to save a deposit. But lenders warn that the gap is sensitive to any change in base rates or rent regulation. For would-be buyers, mortgage calculators from local brokers (such as DNG’s in Rathfarnham) give the clearest sense of how the month-to-month sums shake out. The message: focus searching in postcodes with sale prices lingering— not surging. And act quickly, as agents in Lucan and Tallaght say viewings are up nearly 30% in the past month alone, with more tenants now crossing over to buyer status than at any point in the last decade.