Irish third-largest investors in overseas commercial property

Irish people were third-largest investors in commercial property abroad last year, according to a commercial real estate company.

CB Richard Ellis Gunne said only Germans and Americans invested more money than the Irish in overseas commercial property in 2004.

Spokesperson Marie Hunt said the main reason was a lack of investment opportunities in Ireland, as well as high transaction costs.

"This is forcing quite a lot of investors to invest both in the UK and increasingly into other European countries," she said.