Sales made at just the right time

Sale prices were due to market cycle rather than strategy, writes Marie Hunt

OVER the course of the past decade, as the property sector in Ireland went through an unprecedented boom, many religious orders fared well in timing the disposal of some of their property assets and benefiting from the strong prices available in the market during the boom years.

While many of the properties sold by religious orders were publicly advertised and generated considerable public attention, the sheer number of properties that were sold by religious orders, both on and off-market from 1999 to 2009 is surprising, as is the fact that between them, these orders achieved over €667 million for property disposals in the 10-year period. Some of the assets sold by the religious orders were located outside of the jurisdiction.