METRO FREE Tuesday, November 17, 2009 RENTS have fallen to an average of 771 a month, their lowest level in a decade, a new prop- erty report out today reveals. Accommodation website Daft.ie has recorded a four per cent fall in the last three months, with the Dublin market hit harder than anywhere else. Ronan Lyons, economist at Daft.ie, warned the continued drop could disrupt the Governments plan for the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). These recent falls in rent have pushed the aver- age rental income back to levels last seen in 2000, which has much wider implications, he said. Nama was predicated on rents and yields re- maining high between now and 2020. Mr Lyons warned the bad-bank plan was based on property prices growing by ten per cent and that the housing market would be less attractive to investors if rental values continued to fall. Currently, the yield on residential property has risen by just 0.1 per cent in the last year, to 3.4 per cent on average, compared to the Nama benchmark of six per cent, Mr Lyons said. Rents fell by more than 18 per cent in the year to October 2009, with average monthly rent across the country down from more than 1,000 last year to under 775 last month. Dublin continued to show the biggest falls with rent down by five per cent over the last three months. Rents in Galway remained static, but those in Cork and Limerick cities fell by 2.5 per cent. Waterford fell more sharply, down almost four per cent, while elsewhere around the coun- try, rents fell by an average of 3.8 per cent. Mr Lyons warned that as more and more rent rates decrease, the long-term economic perspec- tive for Nama will become increasingly worse. BY Ed CartY Rent at lowest level in decade Space shuttle atlantis lifts off on a mission to the International Space Station from its launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida yesterday. It is loaded with spare parts to keep the space station flying after the shuttles are retired next year Picture: Reuters WE HAVE LIFT OFF Gaddafi invitation to 500 Italian beautiesSee Page 10 HELP MEtrO HELP tHE ENVIrONMENt. rECYCLE tHIS NEWSPaPEr tOdaY INSIDE TODAY Interview: Page 14 Theyve got soul: Dublin Gospel Choir doing their thing See Page 11 Luck runs out for Breffny on The Apprentice PLUS Whats on TV tonight Pages 14-15 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html