Data shows rise in rents for prime Dublin offices

Rents for the best Dublin offices have risen for the first time since the property crash cut some commercial real estate values by more than half, the latest data from property consultant CBRE shows.

Calculated every two months and based on recent transaction data, rents have increased to €28.50 per square foot, from €27.50 in January, driven by demand from tenants such as Facebook, Ebay, and Google that are attracted to Ireland’s low corporation tax rate of 12.5%.

At the same time, yields on so- called prime offices have fallen to 6.5%, the lowest since their 5.5% level before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the third quarter of 2008, as overseas investors competed for the best real estate in a bet that Ireland has put the worst of its economic problems behind it.