110% rise in Q1 property investmentas CBRE claims demand will return

CBRE said it was a record quarterly performance for European commercial real estate, surpassing the previous high seen in the same quarter of 2015.

It will be scant consolation for renters and families looking for affordable homes and apartments that Ireland’s attractiveness to real estate firms remains steadfast.

There has been growing public discontent that prime real estate remains open to foreign investment arms, yet there still remains a homeless, housing, and rental crisis in the Republic.

CBRE found investment volumes in Ireland were up 110% on the first quarter of 2019, reaching €1.3bn, with offices and so-called “multifamily” accommodation — separate units in one or more buildings in a complex — in Dublin particularly sought after.

CBRE Ireland head of capital markets, Kyle Rothwell, said real estate was “in good shape” despite the global uncertainty and would continue to perform well on a relative basis in the long term.

“We expect to see continued strong appetite for office, industrial, and residential investments in the Irish market.

"We have been receiving a lot of enquiries from clients seeking opportunities once investment markets ‘reopen’ so we expect a healthy bounce in investor demand once liquidity returns,” he said.

CBRE said preliminary investment volumes in the UK in the first quarter of this year came to €17.2bn, up 33% on the same period last year, due to greater political stability.

Similarly, it said, many of the major Continental European markets outperformed the first quarter of last year, with Germany, France, and Spain recording investment volume increases of 97%, 38% and 54% respectively.