Lowest Deal Volume In A Decade Ends Moribund Year For Ireland

Commercial property investment turnover for the fourth quarter was €442M across 28 transactions, according to the latest snapshot from Colliers.

This was down 58% relative to Q4 2022 and marks the weakest fourth quarter in over a decade, Colliers reported, reflecting extreme caution in the Dublin market in the second half of 2023 amid a high-interest-rate environment and increasing political and economic concerns globally.

Total transactional turnover of €1.85B in 2023 was a significant decline relative to previous years, and the flat Q4 figures were broadly in line with turnover in Q3.

The industrial and logistics sector remained the top performer among the property asset classes in Q4, representing €258M of the deals in total, with office turnover at €78M, retail at €62M and mixed-use at €30M.

In all, 54% of investment into the Irish real estate market came from mainland Europe, 41% from domestic investment and 1% from the U.S.

The largest transaction of the year was by Inditex owner Amancio Ortega’s real estate vehicle Pontegadea, which acquired Phase 2 at Mountpark Baldonnell for €225M in one of the last completed deals of the year.

The other major transactions in the quarter included OPW’s acquisition of Trinity Point offices in Dublin 2 for €40M; Douglas Court Shopping Park in Cork, which traded at €21.5M to a private investor; a confidential €20.6M industrial and logistics deal; and The Chancery Building offices, Dublin 8, which were acquired by another private investor for around €14M, according to Colliers.

“On a positive note, there is still very strong demand from domestic and overseas investors,” Colliers Director of Research Kate Ryan said in a statement. “The expected increase in the level of stock on the market, along with a more stable interest rate environment, should support an improvement in turnover levels later this year.”