Landlords issued just over 4,500 notices of termination to tenants in the third quarter of 2023 following the phasing out of the no-fault eviction ban.
The figure, from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), represents a drop of over 1,000 compared to the previous three months when 5,735 notices were issued.
In total, 4,518 notices of termination were received by the RTB from July to September.
According to the figures, the vast majority of landlords (63%) who issued a termination notice did so as they intended to sell the property.
They also show that 15% did so because there was a breach of tenant obligations, with a similar number citing family members moving into the property as the reason.
Just over 40% of the notices (1,863) relate to Dublin, with the second highest number coming from Cork with 497.
The Government phased out the moratorium on no-fault evictions from last April.
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Housing Eóin O'Broin said the figure signals that more people will be at risk of homelessness within the next six months.
He told RTÉ's Drivetime: "This is the fifth quarter where we have had over 4,000 to 4,500 eviction notices issued, so I suppose the first reaction is what this means is over the next three to six months as these eviction notices then fall due, we are going to have ever more people at risk of homelessness and a constant increase in the number of both singles and particularly families with children presenting for emergency accommodation."
Mr O'Broin said based on today's figures, by the end of the year, there will be around 20,000 eviction notices issued.
He added: "The central problem here is not actually what landlords are doing.
"The central problem here is for far too long Government has over-reliant on the private rental sector to meet both social and affordable housing needs.
"We have far too many people who should not be in what is now an insecure and inexpensive sector, but they are forced there because of a Government failure."
Decrease welcome but number remains high - Threshold
Threshold has welcomed the reduction but pointed out that it comes off the back of a high point in the second quarter of this year.
The housing organisation's Chief Executive John Mark McCafferty said: "The number of notices of termination is still very high, they average around 4,600 a month. So, whether that is an individual or a group of people who are in a home, it is a lot of renters who are faced with that prospect of the possibility of losing their home."
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he added: "We did see - compared to the RTB figures - a slight increase in what we call general termination queries".
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People are concerned about losing their home, worried that their landlord might sell, and asking what their rights are if a landlord decides to sell.
Mr McCafferty said the density of notices to terminate is centred on Dublin, Cork, Galway, and to some extent Limerick.
"It is where the majority of renters are if you look at the rent pressure zones. They are in urban areas, in provincial towns, so they generally tally."
Tenants who find themselves back on the rental market face a challenge, Mr McCafferty added.
"I do not want to be gloomy about it. But there is a challenge in relation to trying to source accommodation because ... some landlords are leaving the market.
"There is supply coming in through social housing, through the approved housing bodies, through the new cost rental tenure, which is very welcome again, provided through the approved housing bodies.
"There is general supply in the market in terms of owner-occupied housing ... but in terms of trying to find other private rented housing, that has been and continues to be really problematic for people because of the lack of supply in that sector."
