Irish Commercial Property in High Demand

---

Demand is increasing for prime Irish commercial real estate, with a high volume of transactions reported during the first six months of the year. 

The Irish commercial property market reported 34 investment transactions of more than €1 million completed during the first half of the year, according to CBRE.  The total value for the asset sales was more than €603 million, a value higher than the entire volume of transactions reported for 2012, when 35 similar deals were completed. 

"Prime yields have contracted faster than was anticipated during the first six months of this year," Marie Hunt, executive director with CBRE Ireland, told the Irish Times. "The ending of the Capital Gains Tax waiver at the end of 2013 will undoubtedly boost transactional volumes in the latter half of the year as buyers vie to get transactions closed by year-end."

After many years, the Irish commercial property market has demonstrated signs of recovery with a high demand reported in Dublin. It is likely to increase as the country recently introduced its first REIT, which will focus on Dublin's commercial real estate.

During the second quarter of 2013, notable sales included the purchase of the Clancy Barracks multifamily property and adjoining 8.5-acre site by Kennedy Wilson for approximately €82 million; the off-market sale of the La Touche House office building in the IFSC for €35 million to Credit Suisse, a player in the market; an apartment in Dublin for €6.1 million to an Israeli investor and the sale of an AIB bank branch, also in Dublin, for €4 million, the paper reported.

New properties are expected to enter the market in early autumn, which should help a market that has more buyers than sellers, CRBE said.