Stock markets investors should avoid Europe-wide shares for the time being, Merion Capital has warned, though a very small handful of Irish companies, including Fyffes and Irish Residential Properties REIT, may offer some shelter from further storms ahead.

Investors in the Irish stock market should favour Irish firms that have less exposure to the UK — until the outcome of the British referendum on membership of the EU is known, Merrion Capital has said in a major report.

Over the past three years, property in the Irish economy has started to move out of the shadows of financial markets and into an era of transparency and better governance.

THE property investment market in Ireland’s second city hit new and record highs in 2015, far out-stripping 2014’s much-recovered market, according to a new report due shortly from DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.

A PEARL of a riverside Cork site, between the gates of UCC and the city centre, is for sale for €2.5m.

Investment in the country’s real estate market reached record levels last year with a number of new players coming to the fore accounting for much the activity. More than €4.5bn was spent on real estate in 2014 making it the highest amount ever invested in the Irish market surpassing the previous peak by more than €900m.

With both mainstream and social media dominated by political disharmony and the negativity caused by the mishandling of the Irish Water debacle it is easy to get lost in a haze of public discontent.

The Irish Stock Exchange commissioned research recently that laid out detailed analysis of the exchange’s impact on the economy.

AS Nama this week brings 588 apartments for sale for €116 million in Dublin, aimed at REITS and overseas investment groups, offers on a smaller scale of apartment blocks maybe of more interest to private buyers conscious of the end of year expiry date of the CGT exemption for investments held for seven years.

Italy’s steps to transform its real estate investment trust industry mirror changes made by Spain that helped attract foreign investors including Bill Gross and George Soros.

Property investment fund Green REIT is expected to secure a new debt facility of €100m to €200m with its lenders over the next month-and-a-half.

Publicly-owned property fund Hibernia REIT has said it sees significant further commercial and residential acquisition opportunities in Dublin, having already spent nearly 90% of the equity it raised in its December float.

Investment in the country’s commercial property market is running at 25% higher than at the sector’s peak in 2006.

As the sell-off of a portfolio of three Irish shopping centres in Cork, Clonmel and Balbriggan moves to a second round, with three bidders reportedly all over €135 million, a second very sizeable portfolio of Dublin shops and offices comes for sale this week, guiding €123m.

The property market continues to heat up as Green REIT spent over €300m, Bank of Ireland investor Wilbur Ross announces a property joint venture and CBRE bring the €6m Donnybrook Mall to market.

One of the main beneficiaries in the recovery of the Irish property market looks set to be the real estate investment trusts (REIT), who are poised to pick up Nama’s best assets.

Goodbody Stockbrokers has initiated coverage of the two main domestic REITs (real estate investment trusts) which floated on the Iseq last year, stating that both have significant scope for share value growth this year.

Irish Residential Property REIT has raised €200 million in a stockmarket listing, meeting its target as it became the third such real estate investment trust to launch in Ireland in the last year.

The Irish exchange is back in the big time, with the US also booming again, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

“Build it and they will come” is a mantra that could apply to an initiative by the Irish Stock Exchange this week.

A new Ireland-based property investment firm is to raise around €350m from a dual share listing in Dublin and London and begin establishing a portfolio next year.

Those who bought houses at the peak of the boom, paying tens of thousands of euro in stamp duty, will be liable for the new Property Tax from Jul 2013.

Plans to further strengthen the commercial property sector — through the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which allow for investors to finance property investment in return for attractive yields and special tax considerations — have been widely welcomed as one of the main positives from yesterday’s budget proposals.

NAMA has to engage with the market in 2012 and funding for buyers must improve, writes Peter O’Flynn

The UK’s biggest ports operator was today reported to have drawn an improved takeover approach worth £2.34bn (€3.5bn) from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs.

Supermarket giant Tesco saw its shares hit a record high today on a report that it wanted to unlock more value from its £12bn (€17bn) property empire.

The political row over Labour Party loans hit the stock market today after one of the businessmen involved quit as the boss of Capita.

The FTSE 100 Index sank into the red today as Morrisons disappointed investors and the head of Capita Group quit because of publicity surrounding his decision to loan money to the Labour Party.

The FTSE 100 Index closed above the 6000 mark tonight for the first time since March 2001 as the City digested Chancellor Gordon Brown’s 10th Budget.