ESRI December Newsletter
Dear Reader,
December is a busy month for most organisations, and the ESRI is no exception. As usual, we published across a wide range of topics this month.
Our Quarterly Economic Commentary, Winter 2024 notes that the domestic Irish economy continues to perform well with low unemployment, falling inflation and increasing real wages. However, it cautions that we may face significant challenges around international trade in 2025 stemming from the incoming Trump presidency. The Commentary also assessed the sustainability of current house price levels and found that house prices are overvalued by up to 10%.
Also on housing, a report on property-level rental price growth explored how rents changed from Q2 2022 to Q1 2024. It found that rent levels grew by an average of 2.6% annually for the individual properties tracked in the study. Interestingly, 60% of all properties saw no increase year-on-year.
Turning to social attitudes, our report on attitudes towards Travellers and Roma found that these groups face the highest levels of prejudice of any ethnic group in Ireland. Notably, people living in affluent areas were less comfortable with the idea of having Travellers as neighbours or in a relationship with their children compared to those living in disadvantaged areas.
As this marks the final newsletter of 2024, I want to say how grateful I am for the work and commitment of my colleagues. This year, we published over 160 papers and reports, organised 35 public events and conferences and established two new research areas focused on Housing and Climate. This was made possible through the support of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, our wider set of funders, our Whitaker Patrons and Corporate Members. I’d particularly like to mention Avolon and Kerry Group who recently joined as Corporate Members. I hope we all continue to work together, building on the ESRI’s mission to produce independent, high-quality research that informs policies which in turn support a healthy economy and promote social progress.
Wishing you a relaxing Christmas break.
Regards,
Professor Alan Barrett
Director