Following comment from CBRE, The Times reports that Dublin can expect a bumber fourth quarter due to the already vast amount of space reserved.
Read the article below;
Prime office rents in Dublin city centre are to hit €65 per sq ft by the end of the year as strong demand continues across the commercial property sector, according to CBRE.
More than 1.9 million sq ft of leasing transactions were signed in the first nine months of the year despite a slowdown in the most recent quarter, the commercial real estate company said.
The 361,990 sq ft of office space leased in the third quarter of the year was “somewhat disappointing” considering the level of underlying activity in the market and “the bumper take-up achieved in the first two quarters of 2017”, according to Marie Hunt, executive director of CBRE Ireland. She added: “However, with more than 1.07 million sq ft of accommodation reserved at the end of the quarter, including five transactions extending to more than 50,000 sq ft, a bumper fourth quarter is now anticipated, with annual take-up volumes in 2017 likely to exceed the long-term annual average for the fourth year running.”
CBRE predicted that prime Dublin rents would hit the €65 per sq ft mark by the end of 2017 after climbing to an average €63.50 to date this year.
Prime office yields contracted by 40 basis points to 4.25 per cent in the three months to the end of September, according to CBRE.
It added that investors remained “specifically attracted” to investment in the Dublin office sector as evidenced by the strength of underlying occupier activity and the pace at which new schemes attracted tenants.
The overall vacancy rate in Dublin fell to 6.18 per cent in the third quarter of the year despite a slight increase in the rate in the city centre over the period.
In total, 47 individual lettings occurred in Dublin in the quarter, compared with 121 in the prior six months.