A new report by consultancy PwC and the Urban Land Institute ranks Dublin as the fifth busiest real estate market in Europe. In excess of €3 billion was invested in Irish property in the first nine months of this year, according to the report. Significantly, this positions Ireland on par with Paris, and just behind London, Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich.

It must be noted that for ‘real estate prospects’ or investment and development opportunities, Dublin ranked 13th out of the 31 European cities considered, which marks a fall of two places from last year’s ranking. More than 800 real estate professionals across Europe contribute to this research so the lower ranking could, according to the report authors, “perhaps reflect that the gains from Brexit have now largely been realised”. Despite the level of international investment that has flowed into Ireland over the past decade – and despite the number of companies that have relocated or opened new EU head offices in Dublin since the Brexit referendum was passed in 2016 – there was an expectation that this would continue for another few years.

The Irish real estate market became increasingly attractive to international capital over the past 10 years, at which time Dublin ranked a low 26th out of 31 cities for investment and development opportunities. Over that period, there has been an estimated €7 billion invested into the Irish property market, according to data from Sherry FitzGerald. However, this cannot be taken for granted and it is critical that Ireland remains a preferred destination for investment. PwC Ireland, speaking about the report launch, confirmed that Ireland, and particularly Dublin, remains a “very favourable location for real estate investment”. A highly skilled English-speaking workforce and a pro-business economy are key features of this appeal, and of course Ireland’s position within the EU, which provides easy access to over 300 million consumers.

What might have been unexpected in light of the ongoing pandemic is the marked increase in sentiment across the property community, with business confidence in the real estate sector at the highest level since 2014. According to the report, “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 was an acknowledgement that the full impact of Covid-19 on the market is still unknown and much depends on the levels and make-up of demand after the pandemic and beyond.

Speculating upon post-pandemic real estate trends, ‘space as a service’ advocate and trainer Antony Slumbers has pointed out that humanity has evolved to spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors and Covid-19 is unlikely to change this; what it will inevitably change is the mix and make-up of those spaces to better suit our changing lifestyles and future work patterns, which have yet to emerge.