ECB's quantitative easing 'will drive investment in Irish property market'

The quantitative easing programme announced by the ECB today will drive money into the commercial and residential property, according to property consultants Savills Ireland.

Dr John McCartney, Economist and Director of Research at Savills Ireland said: “The programme announced today will put further downward pressure on bond yields, forcing investors into higher yielding asset classes, including commercial property.”

“2014 was a record year for commercial property investment, with €4.4bn of direct property assets traded. The bond buying programme announced today will continue to drive further activity in this market throughout 2015.”

In addition to lower interest rates, McCartney said that the ECB initiative should also lead to a continuing weakness of the euro relative to sterling.

“In our experience, UK buyers became more active in the Irish residential market in 2014, particularly in the higher price brackets,” he said.

“With a further weakening of the Euro in prospect, we would expect continued strong interest from UK buyers this year.”