Cork’s property market recovery due to foreign input

Cork’s recovering property market is being driven by international forces: FDI new arrivals, the expansion of presences like Apple and EMC, and by foreign investors.

That was the message given to the recent CIF builders’ AGM by surveyor and estate agent, Frank Ryan, of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald, who described the patchy recovery and still abnormal market as “a five-cylinder economic engine, that is operating inefficiently on two cylinders.”

While the ‘pillar banks’ are still selective in lending, and transaction levels are both low and slow, confidence has recovered since 2012. “Accordingly, the market is exhibiting higher levels of activity — though primarily only for quality property — both in locational and physical terms. Equally, this increase in activity is primarily represented in the urban ‘residential’ market — and urban ‘offices’ for new FDI employers, locating to Cork,” said Mr Ryan.

Previously, multi-national business would have been a minority in the Cork property market, but now they are dominating, via new foreign direct investments, such as Tyco, existing multi-nationals’ expansion (EMC, Apple) and investors purchasing property portfolios and investments, such as the recent Airport Business Park sale (see Wilton bank-sale story, these pages).

“In addition, major pending ‘loan book’ sales by Nama will link former developer companies and house builders into multi-national fund companies,” said the DTZ agent, while multi-national retailers, such as Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, TK Maxx, Penneys, are not dependent on Irish bank lending. “There’s still scope for local businesses — as a builder, developer or as a retailer to offer niche business services, with efficient delivery, based on local knowledge.”