Some €2.3bn (£1.9bn) of commercial property has traded in Ireland over the past three months, pushing the total investment volume for 2016 to €2.9bn.
Spending in Q2 was boosted by four deals each valued at more than €80m, accounting for 60% of the total volume.
This included the Blackstone’s €950m purchase of Blanchardstown Town Centre – comprising Blanchardstown shopping centre, two retail parks and office space – from Green Property.
Other notable deals were office scheme One Spencer Dock, which was purchased by a Middle Eastern fund for more than €240m; Project Kells, a Dublin office portfolio bought by Meyer Bergman and BCP from Aviva for €93m; and LXV, St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, an office block bought by CNP Insurance for €85m.
Hannah Dwyer, associate director and head of research at JLL, said investment in Q2 had “exceeded expectations” with more than triple the volume traded in the same quarter last year at €660m.
Dwyer said: “It is difficult to gauge where investment volumes will end up at this point in the year. Ireland is well-positioned from an occupier and investor perspective to benefit from some of the post-Brexit uncertainty, and we are expecting to see a positive short-term bounce in demand from these sectors.
“However, we cannot ignore that we are entering a very sensitive period for global markets, and Ireland’s close links to the UK is of concern from an economic perspective. It is too early to predict how Brexit will unfold and its longer-term impact on the Irish economy.”
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