Project Eagle loan property values soar 20%
The sale of Project Eagle —the codename for the huge 2014 auction of €5.7bn in distressed Northern property loans — sparked a furore after allegations in the Dáil that a northern politician and ‘fixers’ were to benefit from fees paid by external advisers employed by the winning bidder Cerberus.
The rate of price increases in the commercial property market in Belfast underpinning the Project Eagle loans was hotly disputed when Nama chiefs met the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee last week.
However, property experts in Belfast and Dublin yesterday confirmed that prices of prime commercial properties in Belfast — which accounted for a large part of the Project Eagle loans —have soared by up to 20% in the last year.
The MSCI Northern Ireland Investment Review, published in recent days, shows property values in the Northern commercial property market rose 10.9% in 2014, having risen 7% in the previous year.
The market in the first six months of 2015 has likely increased further over the first half of the year.
Marie Hunt, executive director and Ireland head of research at CBRE for Belfast and Dublin, told the Irish Examiner that commercial prices have risen exceptionally strongly in Belfast in the past year by up to 20%.
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, Nama yesterday said it had achieved the best sales price at the time.
“The portfolio sold for what it was worth at the time,” Nama said.
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