Dublin is the fifth busiest real estate market in Europe with more than €3 billion invested between the end of last year and the third quarter of 2021. This put the Irish capital on a par with Paris and ahead of cities such as Oslo, Milan, and Manchester. London came top with €16 billion of capital inflows, followed by the German cities of Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich. Several companies, particularly financial firms, have moved or opened new EU head offices in the Irish capital since the Brexit referendum was passed in 2016. Nonetheless, Dublin’s ranking is up from 26th in 2012. Institutional property investors have flooded into Ireland over the past decade, taking advantage of strong rental yields. Dublin and Ireland remain a very favourable location for real estate investment. Highly skilled English-speaking workforce, a pro-business economy is part of the EU with access to over 300 million consumers.
The increased level of confidence was also supported by continuing strong investor demand, with both the availability of debt and equity expected to be plentiful. There is positivity in the real estate market with good investment opportunities in many capitals including Dublin. While headwinds exist such as economic uncertainty, labour and supply chain challenges, surging energy costs and adapting for a sustainable environment, nevertheless, the real estate industry is learning to live with Covid-19. Demand for a variety of real estate sectors remains strong, with investment returns overall looking up.