Solid Quarter of Irish Investment Spend Despite Headwinds

CBRE Ireland today confirm that a total of €1.8 billion was invested into Irish commercial property in Q3 2022. This brings the total year-to-date spend in the Irish market to €4.9 billion, an increase of almost 40% versus the same period in 2022. The Q3 quarterly total is significantly above the quarterly average in the Irish market, which is approximately €1.2 billion.

Investment volumes this year have been driven by exceptional transactions such as the Hibernia REIT (€1.1 billion) portfolio trade in Q2. Indeed, the largest transaction in Q3 was the sale of the Salesforce Office HQ and The Samael Hotel in Dublin 1, which traded as a portfolio, to the acquirer Blackstone. The sale price of this transaction was more than €500 million. Other notable office deals in Q3 include the sale of the Watermarque Building in Dublin 4 and the Eight Building in Dublin 8.

According to head of research at CBRE Ireland, Colin Richardson, “While volumes in the Irish market have been robust in the year-to-date, exceptional one-off sales have driven spend materially higher than in 2021. The office and residential sectors continue to attract the bulk of investor interest. However, the dynamics of the Irish investment market continue to shift, in-line with global macroeconomic headwinds, which are negatively impacting sentiment. With interest rate increases and rising debt costs, we are beginning to see yields come under pressure. This is likely to be reflected in the final quarter of the year”.