Irish Property News Update
Is there still value in Irish Commercial Property?
While the Irish Times reports that Irish property has provided investors with a return of 29 per cent to the end of third quarter, the question arises whether there is any value left?
The rise was led by office space but retail units on Grafton Street have risen by 24 per cent also. Colm Lauder, an associate with MSCI Real Estate, argues that this time it’s different and that these are not the unsustainable rises we witnessed in the celtic tiger boom period.
Yields however have fallen from 9.8% in 2012 to 6.5% in September 2014. Risks he identifies are political instabilty in Ireland (possible early elections) and in Europe (i.e. Greece). Altogether though he surmises the the prospects for the Irish market “remain favourable”
CBRE: Commercial property recovery to expand beyond Dublin in 2015
Pretty much a self explanatory headline and what else would you expect CBRE to put in a press release. They say that rents and commercial property values will continue to rise in 2015, as the shortage of suitable office in particular remains acute.
Interestingly they say that office yields are currently below 6% and they expect this to drop to 50 basis points in 2015.
Irish Independent source here.
Time for savers to bite the equity bullet?
Ian Quigley in the Irish Independent explains the obvious implications of low interest rates for savers and encourages people to put some cash at risk (to work) here. Main takeaway is that quality wins out.
However, provided you focus on high-quality equity or property assets, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about day-to-day fluctuations.
Northern Ireland Property to rise?
Both TheJournal.ie and the RICS are touting Northern Irish Property at the minute.
Firstly The Journal recommend Belfast as an entry level into property investment mainly due to the low cost relative to Dublin. They quote an estate agent example of buying for €64000 and renting for €510. A healthy 9.5% yield.
Secondly PropertyWire.com report that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors expects Northern Ireland house prices to rise by 4%. They put this down to lack of supply and stamp duty changes.
Other News
PWC and the Urban Land Institute publish a report saying “Dublin remains in the number two spot for the second year running for real estate investment and development in Europe” Just behind Berlin. News report here
The Irish Independent want a picture of your front door for a bit of PR as they release their “Nationwide property price survey: How Much Is Your House Worth? 2015” next weekend. Full details here.