Commercial property sees upturn

The commercial property sector saw a marked upturn during the first half of the year, with transaction volumes rising considerably and values stabilising.

According to latest data from the Irish division of international commercial property consultancy, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), 12 property investment transactions over the value of €1m were signed between January and the end of June — with a combined value of €140m. While there was no real change in total first-half value this year — although the first half of last year was heavily skewed by Google paying Nama just under €100m for Dublin’s Montevetro building — the volume of transactions rose significantly, with only three commercial transactions over the value of €1m carried out in the first six months of 2011.

Values, however, are still well below the highs seen five and six years ago when combined full-year values were hitting between €2bn and €3bn on average.