Property consultants CBRE Ireland have today released figures for the volume of office lettings signed in Dublin during the first nine months of 2018, which shows that the market is on target for another strong year, after 2017 beat all previous records.
According to CBRE Ireland, more than 56,000m2 of office lettings in 80 individual transactions signed during the third quarter of 2018 alone. Sixty two percent of office leasing activity in Dublin in the third quarter occurred in the city centre region.
In total, more than 220,000m2 of office leasing activity has been signed in Dublin in the year to the end of September with a further 100,000m2 of office accommodation in the capital reserved at the end of the quarter, which will boost take-up in the fourth quarter and subsequent quarters.
According to the CBRE analysis, lettings to tenants in the computers/high-tech sector accounted for 34% of take-up in the capital in the third quarter 2018 and more than 40% of leasing activity in the year-to-date.
Prime office rents in Dublin city centre have now plateaued at €700 per square metre while rents in the south suburbs of the city which currently stand at approximately €306.66 per square metre are expected to increase over the coming months.
Commenting on the figures, Executive Director and Head of Research at CBRE in Ireland, Marie Hunt said, "The first two quarters of 2018 saw strong volumes of leasing activity being recorded in the capital and this momentum carried into Q3 although unlike the previous two quarters there were no large transactions extending to more than 9,290m2 (100,000 sq. ft.) signed in the last three month period."
She added, "Nevertheless, there is currently more than 100,000m2 of office accommodation reserved and demand is running at more than three times that level, which points to a very strong Q4 and continued momentum into 2019. Interestingly, more than a third of take-up in Dublin in the year-to-date has comprised pre-lettings, which gives comfort to developers of new schemes that are being developed on a speculative basis."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
