Dublin gets more competitive on rent

THE latest report on the commercial property market by DTZ Sherry FitzGerald found that rental levels in the prime Dublin office and industrial markets have now fallen 48% from peak which effectively brings the prime Dublin market back in line with competing cities such as Amsterdam, Birmingham and Edinburgh.

Marian Finnegan, chief economist at DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, said one of the biggest challenges that Ireland faced in the Celtic tiger years was reduced competitiveness.

She said the deflation in rents in the past three years has allowed Dublin and Ireland to be repositioned as one of the more competitive locations for foreign direct investment.

This coupled with our competitive tax structure and the strength of our labour offering should help underwrite our economic recovery, she said.

The Cork office market had an up-lift in activity in the three month period while the vacancy level in the Galway market is the lowest recorded in all the regional centres including Dublin.