The continued strength of Dublin’s private rented sector (PRS) market was evidenced once again in the three-month period to the end of September with 1,016 homes sold for a total of €470 million to institutional investors.
The sale of these residential units accounted for 67 per cent of all investment sales in the capital in the third quarter of 2020, according to the latest research from agent Hooke & MacDonald.
Office transaction volumes meanwhile fell to 31 per cent in the same period, having constituted 60 per cent and 57 per cent of the total in the second and first quarters respectively.
In the first nine months of 2020 office investment transactions made up 47 per cent of all investment sales in Dublin, with PRS accounting for 36 per cent.
This represented a reversal of the position last year when in the first nine months of 2019, PRS accounted for 44 per cent of all investment transactions in Dublin with offices in second place at 34 per cent.
Hooke & MacDonald believe that transactions for the final quarter of 2020 could see the PRS sector moving ahead of office investments again.
The largest transaction in the first nine months of this year across all categories of investment saw the Cosgrave Property Group secure about €200 million from the sale of 368 apartments at Cualanor in Dún Laoghaire to Deutsche Bank subsidiary, DWS.
Contracts were also signed on the € 145 million off-market sale to DWS of 317 residential units spread over four developments in north Dublin.
